Saturday 31 December 2011

Another year ends - a recap

As I starts writing this, there's two hours left of 2011. Feels like doing a recap lah.

This is actually not a good year for me. Almost everything that could go wrong had went wrong. But never mind lah, I am still alive, has a job and can still smile before I close my eyes everytime before I go to sleep....except of course whenever I miss my loved one too much....

This blog is one of the few nice things that happened to me this year. I kinda enjoy writing it.

When I first started on Sept 20 (that's less than four month ago), I actually did it because an old friend kept bugging me to do it. He said I can write very well. Honestly, I don't think so. I suspect my friend was just trying to flatter me...well, actually he has always been a bit in love with me but his Bollywood look is just not my taste la....hehehe. This was what I first posted, just to shut him up.
In the begining, there is this cat


In the begining it was a bit funny as some people called me bro.  I actually look very much like in that picture. But never mind lah.

I had at that time never intended to be a social political blogger. By nature, I'm just a carefree person with a simple life.

I, however stumbled upon this info less than a week after started blogging
This is another Crook
It became some sort of a hit after prominent bloggers Rockybru and Apanama picked it up. Rocky had then placed this blog in the so-po category  in his blog roll, which I found to be quite an honour.

I am actually an anti-establishment person. Always a rebel, really. I am not a member of Umno or any BN component parties. However, I decided to support BN after 2008 because I see the danger this country is facing if it falls into the hands of the Pakatan people. The fact that I am in Johor made it easier because BN in this State is still basicaly intact.

I have make it no secret that I admire the Johor MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman. I found him to be a person of honour, has integrity and incorruptible. Some may disagree with me, but that's their right ya.
Thus, I started these series of article in support of him and Johor BN. This one was the first one
Fortress Johor - Part 1 : A new MB?
It was then folowed with another series which I intend to keep running till the next general election. This is the first posting of that series
Johor GE13 : The Chinese votes 1

Then there's that Irda thing and the police report. I think I better list down all my postings about Irda here so that people who are interested may get a better perspective of what I wrote and where I stand as far as that organisation is concerned.
A little warning to Irda
A song and dance for Irda people
Bad PR skills
Birth of Iskandar Malaysia - for non-Johoreans
Irda's way of doing things
BIGCAT rambles on
Iskandar Malaysia doing well after 5 years
A message from Irda and my reply

As the year closes down an hour from now, I am in the midst of writing about the unfortunate Khazanah-IIB corruption fiasco. My hope on that one is for the authorities to do the right thing. It is after all the best opportunity for the BN government to show itself as being really serious in weeding out corruption at the highest of places.

2012 will be an interesting year as the general election is coming. This is to me the most important general election ever since Merdeka...especially for the Malays. If they failed to unite, then that's the end of them as a bangsa yang bermaruah.

I hope things will be better for me next year. Well, my hope to buy a laptop had been dashed. My no good bosses really didn't want to give me any end year bonus. But I am ok, at least I still have a job. Anyway, I am getting used to writing in this cybercafe.

To all who drop by my blog, thanks a lot.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!!

One brave blogger and three interesting comments

I always want to believe that I am brave but compared to this Benchmark fella, I am nothing lah. His/her take on the Khazanah-IIB fiasco was really an act of...



I was at awe when I read this posting

  Save the Sultan, Nab the Boys.

There was a mention of one Datuk ZZ being up to no good in that posting...it reminds me of this previous posting of mine A very sad day .

Suddenly, I feel that  I need to apologise to Johor MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman for doubting him.

You all connect the dotted line yourselves la. But do be careful. Don't end up being seditious ya.

Meanwhile, my postings on the Khazanah-IIB corruption issue have so far resulted in three very interesting comments -

FIRST COMMENT -
Anonymous said...

Funny enough BigCat...you put the map of Medini in this writeup. Perhaps you might want to find out more on how the Medini land deals were structured with the Arab Consortiums and a Sri Lankan individual, who hides behind few companies registered in British Virgin Island. How the hell Khazanah signed the deal with these suspicious companies is a mystery.


You will find out that the deal involved:

1) I sell to you Medini land at x dollar, but you can sell back to me at x+y dollar. (Never mind if you make profit y dollar from me atas angin).

2) When I sell to you at x dollar, you pay me in many INSTALLMENT over few years. But when you sell back to me at x+y dollar, I IMMEDIATELY pay you cash. (Never mind if you actually RECYCLE my money to pay me as the original land owner).

3) In addition, if you feel that you cannot make 20% profit from the land plots, you can return the land back to me, and I pay you higher at x+z dollar. (Never mind if you actually pass all the business risks to me because I am stupid).

3) Together we create many vehicles to undertake projects on Medini, we use government money to fund those projects, either using grant of soft loans. (See, the government cannot let us fail).

Let's not kill the excitement BigCat. You need to do some investigative journalism. Ask MACC if they are aware about this. By the way, all these agreements were signed by Khazanah people on behalf of IIB.


SECOND COMMENT

IIB Watch said...

MACC PROBES ISKANDAR KICKBACKS -


The Khazanah people, especially Azman Mokhtar, should know that MACC is hinting something - they are now going through the files of all agreements signed by Iskandar Investment Berhad with foreign 'investors'. All these deals were signed by Khazanah Nasional on behalf of IIB.

Those who were called by MACC over the last 6 months were not only IIB staff in charge of procurement, but also staff who are in charge of corporate matters. And boy, MACC themselves were shocked on how much were revealed to them. Can't blame those IIB people, they were interrogated like criminals.

Many of IIB deals were lopsided, giving advantage to foreign investors. And yes, what MACC meant with "foreign agent" is a guy by the name of Imran Markar - a Sri Lankan who lives in Dubai and London. He claims to be a good friend of Azman Mokhtar, and he sits in the Board of three companies - Medini Iskandar Malaysia S/B, Global Capital and Development S/B and Medini Central S/B. And he also the benefiary of Terra Lumina S/B. All these companies are vehicles of Medini land sale. With the profit sharing, dividends, marketing commission being schemed up in the agreements between these parties, no wonder MACC called this 'legalised corruption'.

If any of the Khazanah people - those in the inner circle of Azman Mokhtar - read this, they should be afraid. Especially people like GS, ZKA and HZM. MACC knew this. Good luck and see you guys in jail.


Bigcat and IIBWatch,

Amazing how detailed other people knew about Khazanah's debacle on Iskandar Msia. What I can add here is that GS has schemed things up far beyond anyone's thought - with his connection to the powers-to-be, he planted his allies in IIB through British graduate connections:
GS is a friend to Datuk ZZ (advisor to PM-5) Datuk OM (advisor to PM-6) and KJ (the son-in-law).
OO and ZA went to Oxford together.
ZZ, OO and SM were same batch studying at Bristol, Oxford and Imperial College respectively. Forgot to say GS was from Kings College.
AY in EPF Investment Division was a friend to ZZ, OO and SM. He studied at Southampton.
Whatever investment deal GS was about to conclude, he will refer to ZZ, OO and KJ. GS will then instruct SM to prepare papers for submission to IIB Board. ZA will prepare budget allocation for the investment deal. GS will then go to AY to get EPF support.
As far as Azman Mokhtar is concerned, as long as the powers-to-be and EPF are ok with the investment deal, he as Chairman of IIB will approve the paper.
Guess who will then has to follow up and implement the deal? Arlida lo...
Guess who will then be blamed for the mess? Arlida lo...

This is how Khazanah played their game. Planting spies, leveraging on connections and collude with powers-to-be. No wonder they cannot be touched.

Thursday 29 December 2011

The good people of IIB and some questions

A friend called me this afternoon and among others we chit chatted about what is happening to his former work place; Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB).



My friend, who is among the pioneers of IIB sounded quite sad.

"I feel sorry for our friends who are still in there (IIB). They must be quite anxious now. It's so unfair. Now every one of us are tarnished by this corruption case," he said.

"Looks like I have to take out IIB from my CV," he half jokingly added.

My friend was among the large group of mid-level management staff who left IIB last year. At that time he told me that he can't stand anymore the antics of a group whom he called "the inner circle".

"If only Arlida had stood up to them," he said, in reference to former IIB CEO Arlida Ariff whose husband was charged with alleged IIB-related corruption several days ago.

Then my friend pointed out something which have been bothering me all along.

"How come no one really linked all this with Khazanah?" he asked before proceeding with several other questions.

"All those people in the inner circle, aren't they appointed to their position by the Khazanah board of directors? I know one of them who started as an assistant vice president and within just over two years had become a director and heading one of IIB's major projects. The guy is just a marketing person and has no technical background. What were the Khazanah BOD thinking when they appointed him? Or was there something else behind it?"

"Another thing is that the E&Y people were send in by Azman (Mokhtar). How sure are the MACC that they did not cover up for Khazanah?"

Seriously, I had these doubts also about Khazanah back then, especially when I observed the manner of how Arlida was told that her services were no longer required by IIB. The way Khazanah distanced themselves from IIB at that time piqued me. I still remember how the Khazanah people washed their hands off the whole thing. What actually made me angry with them at that time is the fact that everytime IIB did well previously, they would had always been there to share the limelight.

Only the valiant effort of the small IIB corporate comm team at that time actually saved the day. Otherwise the whole thing could had been a media feeding frenzy with severe consequences on the whole of Iskandar Malaysia. The present IIB comm team (and Irda's too) should learn a thing or two from their predecessors in handling the current situation.

For instance, they should already have a plan to counter the front page "sources" stories on the IIB issue which appeared on several newspapers today. They should know by now where the sources of those stories came from and whether they are real or insidiously planted to confuse the public into believing that the whole corruption case is just confined within IIB.

As it was with my friend, I am actually symphetatic with the rank and file of IIB. I had the previlage of working closely with them once and I found them to be good people. Most were genuinely passionate about the development effort they are part of.



"We are building a whole new metropolis for Johoreans, how nuch more exciting it can be," said a bubbly young IIB lady as I had lunch with her team members at a riverside restaurant in Pendas Laut, Gelang Patah. That was about three years ago.

Honestly, at that time I found them to be very professional and much easier to work with than most people of other government agencies, including their "sister" Irda.

I really hope the best for these honest workers of IIB, present and past. If you all are reading this - please be strong and believe that God is fair. You all need not worry if you have done no wrong. Cheers guys and gals.

Wednesday 28 December 2011

The big fishes are not just in the south la

Prominent blogger Rockybru seems quite confident about a Johor assemblman to be charged soon in connection with the IIB corruption matter.

This is his latest  posting -
Next change: A big fish in the South

Well, Rocky, if you are right, then things will really get very exciting. If the MACC boys go after that BN assemblyman, then definitely they will also have to go after some very funny characters in Khazanah too.

Don't tell me those Khazanah directors supervising IIB do not know what were going on?

Those IIB head honchos were after all appointed by the Khazanah BOD. Don't tell me they did not check the background of those they appointed to become head of IIB's major projects such as Medini?



 Eh, I would not have let those characters within 50 yards of my little piggy bank la.

I remember cringing when I found out about some of the appointments back then. Heard it caused the same effect on MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman too.  

Ok, who among you Khazanah directors and big time officials are golfing buddies of IIB people back then? Hah, you all think people don't know ka? Your laptops and Berries kena confiscated by the E&Y people or not back then?

You all think, people do not know the real reason why Azman Mokhtar had to send in the E&Y team ka? Well, definitely not because the Khazanah directors supervising IIB recommended it.

Back to the assemblyman said to be implicated by this IIB thing, well, his constituency is a major battle ground in Johor for the coming general election. The Pakatan people are gathering their forces there. If he is indeed going to be charged with something, then Datuk Ghani may have to adjust Johor BN's strategy. That will be a major headache, I think.

Really, if any Pakatan people say in my face that the latest round of crackdown against several BN people is just a political ploy, I think I will smack their mouth off. How can it be a ploy if you go and undermine your own people manning the most crucial constituency so near the general election ? Even if he is not to be charged, a suggestion of corruption against the assemblyman is enough to undermine BN in that constituency. So, people, get real lah.

P.S Irda people, see, this is what I meant by you all need to clean up your house. It started with bad running of the organisation, then hanky panky, then things blew up and get stinky and in the end the  BN State government people have to bear with the mess in the general election. Now you all got it or not? Want to lodge a police report against me some more....sheesh....

Tuesday 27 December 2011

No scapegoat please in Iskandar Investment case

UPDATED

My bet for now is that I am going to be disappointed.

This report by Star indicates that some are to snitch and some are to burn..

JOHOR BARU: A former senior vice-president of an Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) subsidiary was fined RM20,000, in default two months' jail, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of corruption at a Sessions court here Wednesday.
The 51-year-old man's identity has been withheld as he is assisting the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in several other cases involving the IIB.
He was charged under Section 132(2)(b) of the Companies Act, and paid the fine.

Why is Star reports on this is so short one? Is it because of  this "exclusive" ?

KUALA LUMPUR: Two former directors of Iskandar Investment Berhad have been arrested for alleged graft as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission stepped up its investigation of the company's RM2bil package.
The duo, in their 40s, are expected to be charged in the Johor Baru magistrate's court today with corruption involving about RM5mil in connection with the construction of a highway and a boarding school in the Iskandar region.
The RM124mil highway and RM40.8mil school are part of the 3B package and the two were chief executive officers of IIB subsidiaries involved in the projects.


ORIGINAL POSTING

Innocent until proven guilty.

Yet, what happened today must have really signaled a warning to those involved in the development of Iskandar Malaysia - do not mess around.

This was what had happened -
JOHOR BAHARU -- The husband of former Iskandar Investment Bhd (IIB) chief executive officer pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here today to three counts of soliciting and accepting bribes to help a company secure a school construction tender last year.
 On the first count, Mohd Amin Suhaimi, 52, a private company director, was charged with soliciting RM816,900 in cash from Detect Engineering Sdn Bhd director Mohd Hassan Madon, 48, through middleman Mohd Iskandar Fahmi Abdullah, 52, as inducement to help the company secure a tender from IIB to build a secondary boarding school on lot PTD 154971 in Mukim Pulai.      
 He was alleged to have committed the offence at the Grand Paragon Hotel in Taman Century about 5 pm on April 22 2010.
 The second and third counts involved accepting RM500,000 and RM316,900 in cash from Mohd Hassan, through Mohd Iskandar Fahmi at two different locations, as fees for securing the same tender from IIB for the RM40.8 million project, on June 4 and 9 respectively.     
 The charges, under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 provides for up to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the bribe amount or RM10,000 whichever was higher, upon
conviction.
 Judge Mohd Nasir Nordin allowed a bail of RM100,000 with one surety, ordered Mohd Amin's passport to be impounded and fixed Jan 27 2012 for remention and March 5 to 16 for the trial.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission DPP Abdul Ghafar Abdul Latif prosecuted and the accused was represented by Shamsul Sulaiman.  -- Bernama

What is going to happen to IIB former CEO Arlida Ariff? Honestly, I don't know.
When rumours of serious corruption within IIB first came into the open middle of last year, I remember worrying about it. Things within the organisation at that time had started to sour with various allegations of favouratism and victimisation with the culprits being a bunch of people identified as "the inner circle".
My checks then indicated that the allegations were really serious, and true enough, several weeks later Khazanah send in the E&Y people to do an independent audit.
It was believed that Khazanah had done so due to pressure from "higher up". I had at that time suspected that the Johor State government got something to do with it. MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman was known to be worried about what were happening.
That was when IIB middle management staff started to bail out by the dozens. These people were not guilty of anything, but simply want to get a fresh start as things seems to have reached an intolerable level in the organisation. These are the core workforce of IIB at that time.

When Azman Mokhtar called for the IIB town hall session at Persada in October last year to announce Arlida's departure, it confirmed my worst fear.

One of the things which caught my attention about Azman's speech that day was that he had not shown any sympathy towards Arlida, which was so different compared to when he announced the departure of Arlida's predecessor Dr Iskandar Ismail. He had at that time literally shed tears for his Macoba buddy (I am not kidding you). Arlida is by the way an alumni of Tengku Kurshiah College.   

If not for the superb handling of the issue by the then IIB's corporate comm team at that time, the whole thing could had been a major PR disaster for Iskandar Malaysia. I remember cursing the Khazanah media handlers for tai-chiing the whole thing to their IIB counterparts and pretended that their bosses got nothing to do with the mess.

Arlida had since joined Karambunai. IIB, under their new CEO Syed Mohammed Syed Ibrahim have been very quiet. Honestly, I am not really sure what they have been doing the past one year. Most of their activities and important annoucements were apparently decided and made in KL In fact, if you are to google Iskandar Investment Berhad CEO, the search result may initially make you think that Arlida is still heading IIB.

It's almost a year now since Arlida left IIB. Many believed that the whole thing had gone cold. Apparently not so, based on what happened to her husband today.

Personally, I like Arlida. She knows her stuff well, a friendly person and known to be ever willing to help those who are in trouble. Despite the allegations, IIB had done considerably well, especially during the early period of her tenure as CEO. My two favourite IIB's initiatives started during that time were the EduCity and Legoland projects.



But, the law must be above everyone. If there is any evidence against her, then Arlida need to answer for it. So does others who are implicated in the alleged wrong doings. I hope the investigations go all the way to even the level of Khazanah BOD. Let every single guilty person be punished.

I pray that no one be turned into a scapegoat so that others who are guilty may escape the law.

This case should be an opportunity for the government to prove that Iskandar Malaysia is a place of good governance and that investors as well as the locals there need not worry about any hanky panky among the authorities. 

To my friends who are still with IIB, do not despair due to this, continue to do your honest hard work and all the best.

To those at Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda), please learn from this.  






Monday 26 December 2011

A destructive unholy alliance

Malaysia have apparently scored another first in the world.

It is probably the first country where elements of Islamic and Christian far right have joined forces in an effort to topple the government.


 

We have over the years probably been aware of the Taliban-like elements within Pas, who believe that this country is going the Satan's ways because its government does not implement their intepretations of the Islamic law.

These are the people who believed that their fellow Muslims would go to hell if they simply vote the satanic BN which government they said defy what they believe to be Allah's decree for thieves to have their hands chopped off and those who commits adultery be stoned to death.

Medieval though they may seem, these group of Muslim extremists indeed form the core of Pas till today. You may argue that the so-called liberals of Erdogans are taking over, but the reality is that Pas will be nothing without these hard core non-compromising Islamists. They recite Quranic verses to bolster their claims and mesmerise the Malay muslim electorates, promising a relatively easier passage to heaven which starts by a simple cross on the ballot paper.

 These are the people who make Pas a political force that it is. After all, divine attractions are hard to resist. It's simple yet powerful. On one hand, you have the Pas people who want to set-up an Islamic State and on the other, those who claimed they just want a welfare State. Put them side by side and who do you guess the orang kampung in Kelantan will choose?

Pas was said to be the only party which really offers an alternative sistem of governance to the one runs by BN. The Islamic system is Pas' main selling point. Religion really do sells in this country, particularly among the common God-fearing people.

DAP has since realised this and employed the closest thing it could to what Pas has done - exploitation of the Christian faith. Why Christian ? It's because the other main religions are hardly political. Buddhist or Taoist monks don't look right giving fiery political speeches, don't they? It is also seen as the final key to unlock the BN's fortress of Sabah ad Sarawak which have high percentage of Christian voters.

The recent Sarawak State election saw the most blatant exploitation of the Christian faith to win votes. BN were portrayed as an evil Christian prosecuting entity, suppressing the faith and neglecting the Christian bumiputera of the State.

Fotunately the Sarawakian bumiputera didn't buy it and saw the other aspects of DAP's insidious campaigning tactics which is the exploitation of racial sentiments, particularly those of the Chinese in the urban areas.

Still, the effect of religious sentiments were seen to have make some difference and the tactics will be tried again. The setting up for similar modus operandi were already there. Thus, we would from time to time hear statements of political  nature made by men who are supposed to be religious leaders. The latest on none other than the Christmas eve of the past few days.

How far have political elements infiltrated the church in this country could probably be guessed by who within the ranks of bishops and reverands who had made those political statements. What is clear was that most of these statements were of the same pattern - oppression of the Christians by the Muslim-led Umno of BN.

Are Christians really oppressed in this country? Seriously? Well, I don't even want to go deep into that, as I fear I may unintentionally offend other people's faith by my choice of words. You all answer that yourself lah.

Now, the anti-BN/Umno alliance of all these far-right Islamists and Christians is indeed the first of its kind. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Anything but Umno, they said.

It is something like the US' neo-con Christian fanatics' support for the Zionists and their murderous regime in Israel. They support the Zionists because they want the biblical prophecy of armaggedon and return of Christ to be fullfilled. After that they believe the Jews will convert to Christianity for the end of time.

Isn't that very similar to Pas' justification for their collaboration with DAP? That Lim Guan Eng will eventually become a Muslim and a caliph of some sorts? That Pas will eventually turn everything Malaysian Islamic?

My guess is that the DAP-supporting Christian extremists have the reverse notion of that.

So, does it seems ok for religious extremists from all sides to get together to fight against a common enemy? What will become of this country once these extremists have a say in its governance?

Those are among things Malaysians should consider within the next few months before they cast their votes in the coming general election.

Sunday 25 December 2011

Christmas, roasted turkey and politics

Let me start by wishing those who celebrates Christmas a joyous day.

Have to remember that I can't just send the greetings to Christians as many of other faiths also celebrates the occassion.

I even have a Malay Muslim friend who actually roasts a turkey every Christmas eve for his family. It's a "tradition", he and his wife acquired when they were studying in the US. Just for fun, he said.



 I am not very sure, but I think roasting turkey is more for Thanksgiving, isn't it? Well, whatever lah, as long as my friend and his family happy. Afterall, in Japan, they celebrates Christmas by eating KFC, of all things....really I am not kidding you....weird Japanese.

Everyone are probably merry today, but this year's Christmas seems a bit tense to some people. To me that's the problem when people starts mixing religion with politics, or rather try to gain power via religion.
You can read about the dilema of the Malaysian churches in the latest postings by these two rival bloggers-

Sat Dee's

Lets Talk About "Rights" Rev Eu

and his nemesis Shuzheng's

The Church Reaffirms a Christian Malaysia Agenda 

Both are among  my top ten  favourite bloggers.

Well, back to the festive mood....here is a bit about Christmas I took from Wikipedia -

The precise day of Jesus's birth, which historians place between 7 and 2 BC, is unknown.[13] In the early-to-mid 4th century, the Western Christian Church first placed Christmas on December 25, a date later adopted also in the East.[14][15] Theories advanced to explain that choice include that it falls exactly nine months after the Christian celebration of the conception of Jesus,[16] or that it was selected to coincide with either the date of the Roman winter solstice[17] or of some ancient pagan winter festival.[16][18]
The original date of the celebration in Eastern Christianity was January 6, in connection with Epiphany, and that is still the date of the celebration for the Armenian Apostolic Church and in Armenia, where it is a public holiday. As of 2011, there is a difference of 13 days between the modern Gregorian calendar and the older Julian calendar. Those who continue to use the Julian calendar or its equivalents thus celebrate December 25 and January 6 on what for the majority of the world is January 7 and January 19. For this reason, Ethiopia, Russia, Ukraine and Macedonia celebrate Christmas, both as a Christian feast and as a public holiday, on what in the Gregorian calendar is January 7.




Saturday 24 December 2011

BN's evil MACC stormtroopers strike again

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision (MACC) have been accused of many things including the murder of Teoh Beng Hock.

They were said of being the instrument of the evil Umno/BN, specialising in harassing Pakatan people in various Pakatan controlled State governments.

Many more lah of such charges against them. Not very much difference from those levelled at other institutions such as the police, judiciary, election commission and the civil service who include even the makchik-makchik manning the service counters of government agencies.

All are said to be Nazi-like lackeys of the corrupt Malays of Umno. Well, at least thats what I understand from various remarks of Pakatan leaders such as Johor DAP's Dr Boo Cheng Hau (try google Dr Boo and Umno civil service and you may find out what am I talking about).

Ok, back to MACC. When Teoh Beng Hock was found dead, all Pakatan fingers point to the MACC boys. The most celebrated theory was that Teoh was killed while under interrogation. He was dangled out of the window, they said, to scare him into betraying his DAP bosses but it all went awary when the MACC goons slips, causing Teoh to fall to his death.

Lets skip the royal commission inquiry. The whole point here is that MACC as an instrument of evil Malays of Umno had killed Teoh, an idealistic young Chinese man who was about to get married and soon to be a father. That was what were drummed into the public psyche, particularly the Chinese community in the preceeding months. The royal commission's findings doesn't really matter.

The same thing happened to the other government agencies. Police, judiciary, and even schools - everything which went wrong are because they are instruments of the evil Umno/BN.

Ok, of course, there were always a bit of praises too for the rank and file - for example, the policemen controlling traffic at congested  roads caused by Pas ceramah. After all, these Umno/BN lackeys are also voters. But if things went a bit wrong, you can bet, these policemen will immediately become anjing kerajaan or barua Umno again to these Pakatan people.

Prosecutors of MACC yesterday secured a conviction against former Selangor MB Dr Khir Toyo, an Umno guy. What about that? Some lackey lah these MACC guys. The judge also the same. Send such a handsome Umno guy to jail for what? You all forgot ka who they said are your masters?

Also on the same day, MACC stormtroopers raided Shahrizat's husband's NFC office. They probably forgot that Shahrizat is Umno Wanita chief kut.



You all MACC people not scared ka your Umno dark overlords sacked you all? I thought you all only raid Pakatan leaders' office only and throw people who went against Umno out of the window?

Well, now MACC become very brave and not scared of their Umno lords and masters, why don't they go and try raid a DAP leader's office la, and see what happened.

Try small first - raid Ronnie Liu's office. They alleged that he is quite chummy with some gangsters because he protect their massage parlours in Selangor. I bet, if you all really do so, sure some more people will fly out of the window one.

After that, you all can try raid Guan Eng's office and check if it is true that all car park developers have a hand in deciding the Penang government's policies. Try la. What you all MACC people got to lose? You all already branded as instruments of the evil Umno/BN what.

Friday 23 December 2011

Malaysian courts bias?

Back in town. Been busy running around doing necessary nonsense. No time at all to drop by any cybercafe. Did however manage to borrow someone's computer to let go some comments and that' about all. Well, need to earn a living ma.

 Almost a week since my last posting. Lots of things happened. Some good, some not so good.

There was Shahrizat having repeated Press conferences to insist she is still relevant after the NFC thingy. Hmmm...enough la lady. You want to stay relevant so much, go ahead lah. guess Umno have to suffer some fools all the time. Nothing new what.

Then there was the flood in Johor. Not so bad at the moment. I mean not as bad as last time la. Hopefully it would not get worse. Heard the Johor BN machinery who were supposed to go take a short break from their gruelling schedule end of this month had to reverse gear and help in flood relief efforts.  Never mind, people first, politics later. Good also like that.

Hmmm.... then there was that gay Malay-Irish wedding huha....I better not write about it. Well, I am trying to stop using vulgar words in this blog anyway. The best write-up on that one in my opinion was by NST's Chok Suat Ling, my favourite MSM writer. Miss Chok's writing can be quite hilarious sometimes. I like.

Oh, just now heard in the radio that Dr Khir Toyo was found guilty over the purchase of some land when he was Selangor MB. Wah! Umno guy also kena by the courts? I thought lots of people said courts in this country are bias and always find in favour of the evil Umno people. How la this one? Anyone want to say the courts being unfair to Khir Toyo? All those Pakatan bloggers, how? Anyone want to go demo on the streets and demand real justice for Khir Toyo?



 Wonder if they are going to say courts unfair when decision of Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy case come out next month, will there be streets demo if the charming boy is found guilty,,,anyone want to bet?

Never mind lah, I think we all know the answers to all that.

On a more sad note - Cesaria Evora, my favourite Latin singer died the other day. This is her in my favourite of her video clips -

Saturday 17 December 2011

Rain Song

The rain had stopped....for awhile, I guess.

 It's been non-stop the whole day here for the past three days. Let's pray there will be no major flood this time around.



 I am not feeling very peachy. Had to turn down a very good offer today....just not fated I guess.

Can't write much. I'm writing this using a borrowed netbook. Can borrow just for awhile only. Maybe I ll buy myself one of these when I have the money.

 Maybe next year...I am unlikely to get any bonus this year. My bosses had made it clear that they hate me....they said I talked too much. Well, I have to agree with them on that one....hehehe

 Need to sleep now....you all take care. I leave you all with this nice song. Be cool ya.



Friday 16 December 2011

A message from Irda and my reply

Received a message from Iskandar Regional  Development Authority (Irda) last night.

1. No witch hunt

2. Will leave things be

3. Engage media - new and old - better




My reply.

Walaikum-salam En Ismail. Thanks for the effort. Sorry that I can't meet you personally for obvious reasons. Here is my reply -

1. It's none of my business if you want to have a witch hunt. It's your organisation, so, you do what you want with your people. But I can assure you, that those who are send for DI, suspended or sacked will have their names posted here along with the real reasons why they suffered such fate.
Well, you are already witch hunting me, complete with police report etc etc, but I am fine with that. You do what you feels need to be done. I will do the same over here.

2. Leaving things be will not do you any good. You need to improve things. Your aides cannot go around bullying their collegues or be perceived as doing so. You need to clean up your house. No more wasting tax payers' money paying huge sums to useless consultants and some of your HOD conmen. I wouldn't care what you want to do if Irda is your parents' company, but it actually belongs to the people and therefore should have good governannce. I think you know that. The MB had said good things about you to me and I believed him. Please don't let the good MB down. He got the general election to deal with and can do without your people creating nonsense and pissing off the orang kampung.

3. Being nice to the Press is good. For starters, you can ask your corporate comm head to be in JB more than in KL. Do proper engagements with the locals. If she don't want, then get someone else to do it. Do me a favour please, ask your corporate comm people,  when was the last time they have direct interaction with the locals. You will be surprised by their answers.

Ok, that's all. I got other things to do for now.

En Ismail, you want to fix or not fix things, that's up to you. If you decide to let things slide, then that's too bad.

What ever it is, all the best...as I had said previously, you are not such a bad dude, Hopefully I don't have to kacau you and your people again. Cheers.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Ending the age of innocence

Watched the beautiful Martin Scorsese's Age of Innocence on HBO yesterday morning. Can't resist it. Much better than reading the original Edith Wharton's book.

Not working. Taking a break.


Actually I watched the movie many times before. I have a DVD of the movie which  I bought when I was in London one fine spring morning many years ago. Don't know where I misplaced it.

For details of the movie, in case you have not seen it- just google, ok.

Well, basically, it's about as what the title suggest - Age of Innocence. Something like those period in life when one knows that oneself doesn't know much but still pretending knowing so much anyway.

It is something like what the Malays are facing now as they are preparing to determine their future via the coming general election. So many are clueless of what will befall them if they made the wrong choice yet still they pretend they know what they are doing.

I am not claiming that I know what is best for everyone, but I do believe we need to be flexible with our thinking. There is no absolute in thoughts.

When the facts stare us in our face, we must be brave enough to accept it.

Well, I have always been anti-establishment. Spend most of my free time in college reading all those leftist books.

Can't remember ever supporting Umno or BN in anything back then. Actually, I am always put off by the over the top Umno people.

Still can't stand many Umno characters till now.

Well, being anti-estalishment has always been more fashionable anyway.

Post 2008 however made me realised that the Pakatan people are even worst than BN. Their hypocricy was too much for me to swallow.

Many idealistic people who joined Pakatan to get rid of the evil BN are starting to realise this. It's even worse on the other side.

What's keeping them away from BN or Umno is that they still see reprehensible characters there. Corrupt people in position of power, immoral people talking about religion and good values, selfish people claiming to be sacrificing for Agama, Bangsa dan Negara. All these disgusting people are the real reason why Umno or BN are still struggling to gain the trust of the rakyat.

My hope is that for Najib to realise he need to clean up house for the coming general election. He must know the difference between the good and bad apples.

The way I see it, the one with a cleaner house will win. No matter how hard BN work, they will not win with all those baggages of bad characters hanging from their neck.

Najib need to be decisive and firm to immediately get rid of them.



Monday 12 December 2011

Iskandar Malaysia doing well after 5 years



Well, Irda people may hate me, but that's besides the point.

Went through the speech delivered by Irda (Iskandar Regional Development Authority ) CE Ismail Ibrahim at the 5th anniversary celebrations attended by PM DS Najib Razak in Puteri Harbour yesterday.

Saw some good stuff and here there are  (I like the last one at number 19) :

8. The Federal Government also committed RM6.3 billion to fund critical enabling infrastructure in Iskandar Malaysia, including road infrastructure, drainage and river-cleaning projects, as well as development of public housing. Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, a total of RM1.26 billion was allocated for highways and roads within the region. The road works include the Coastal Highway from Johor Bahru city centre in Flagship Zone B, New interchanges and bridges, as well as road upgrades to improve traffic flow and dispersal in and around Johor Bahru. Eleven drainage and six river cleaning projects have also been completed, and later this afternoon, we are honoured to have Yang Amat Berhormat the Prime Minister to officially launch the Iskandar Malaysia public housing at Lima Kedai, Gelang Patah, within Nusajaya.

9. During Iskandar Malaysia's first phase of development, which ran from 2006 to 2010, we had secured committed investments of about RM69.5 billion. This was approximately 148 per cent higher than the target of RM47 billion that had been set for that period. It is a commendable achivement given that the global economy underwent severe financial distress in 2008 and 2009. We are pleased to share with Yang berhormat Dato' Sri, that as at the third quarter of 2011, the committed investment total in Iskandar Malaysia have further increase to RM77.8 billion.

10. Of the total committed investments for the first phase, 59 per cent were domestic investment while foreign direct investment (FDI) make up the remaining 41 per cent, making for a healthy mix of sources of funds. About RM38 billion of the RM77.8 billion in committed investments have been actualised. This has seen a number of important developments getting off the ground, with several completed or approaching completion, across the five Flagship Zones in Iskandar Malaysia. They include catalyst projects in the education and leisure and tourism sectors, key infrastructure such as upgrading works on existing roads and new highways, and other projects in sectors such as healthcare.

12. Over the current five year period from 2011 to 2015, Iskandar Malaysia is expected to more than double the number of employment opportunities to an estimated 55,730. This is in line with the operationalisation of a number of key catalyst projects within the period concerned in the various Flagship Zones. In particular, the creative and ICT sectors are expected to be key employers, with 18,000 jobs to be generated through the coming on stream of projects such as MSC Cyberport City and Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios. The electrical and electronics, leisure and tourism, and education sectors are expected to continue offering numerous employment opportunmities, also as a result of more key developments being lunched and operations ramped up in the sectors concerned.

19. Out of the total cumulative committed investments of RM77.8 billion to date, only RM6.3 billion are funds provided by the Government of Malaysia, to fund the development and enhancement of critical enabling infrastructure in Iskandar Malaysia. However, the Government's investment in the region has helped attract and generate an increasing sum of private investments over the last five years. As of today, this translate into a ratio of 1 to 11, meaning that for every RM1 that the Government invests in Iskandar Malaysia, it helps to bring in RM11 of private investment.

Well, if Irda's corporate comm people were not too busy chasing shadows in the form of an insignificant anonymous blogger, they would probably had got all these good points about Iskandar Malaysia highlighted by their boss to be published by the Press.

Friendly Singaporean, really...


Something strange is happening - Singapore is suddenly so friendly with Malaysia.

They are in fact defending our country, really, I am not kidding you.

Saw an article by Singapore Straits Times journalist S. Jayasankaran, who is based in KL. He rubbished a report by a so-called economic expert who predicted a dire future for Malaysia. I know for a fact that editors of that paper had in the past only published bad things about our country.

But not anymore. I had previously seen some nice stories about Iskandar Malaysia in Singapore's Press. So, this is most likely not a one off thing.
Maybe things are really going to be good between our country and them.

Well, there is that bridge thing.....hmmm, next month ya....

Ok, Singapore Straits Times are very kedekut. I can't cut and paste their articles. But never mind lah, at least they tried to defend us. So the next best thing I can do is to reluctantly cut and paste the one by the pro-Pakatan Malaysian Insider on the ST article.

There are two stories here - the first one is about Singapore ST defending us while the second one is an earlier report by Malaysian Insider which was proudly linked by Lim Kit Siang in his blog to show show how bad our country is.


FIRST MI STORY
Experts too downbeat on Malaysian economy, says Singapore BT
By Yow Hong Chieh
December 12, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — Malaysia is vulnerable to a sharp Western slump but not as much as experts suggest, the Singapore Business Times said in a commentary today.

Calling downbeat views of the economy “overdone”, the paper’s Kuala Lumpur correspondent noted that Malaysia has so far maintained steady growth in the face of pessimistic market expectations.

“No one country, save perhaps those with very large domestic economies like India, Indonesia or China, is immune from a sharp Western slump.

“But to suggest that the country is in imminent peril of falling from a cliff may be something of an overstatement,” S. Jayasankaran said.

He pointed out exports grew almost 16 per cent year-on-year in October — more than double the seven per cent forecast for the month — on soaring commodity exports and improved production, which offset the impact from falling electronics output and exports.

Malaysia’s newly diversified portfolio of trading partners, including China and India, also continued to support growth even as demand from the developed markets slowed, he also said.

“If the Eurozone and the US were struggling, other emerging economies have stepped into the breach to take up the slack,” Jayasankaran said.

Shipments to China grew by 37.1 per cent to RM8.66 billion in October, while exports to India jumped 76.9 per cent that same month on the back of a new trade agreement.

Exports to Japan also rose 29.6 per cent to RM7.52 billion, mainly to meet post-tsunami and earthquake reconstruction needs and new demand arising from supply chain disruptions cause by floods in Thailand.

Jayasankaran also downplayed a warning by a Nomura International economist that Malaysia would be hit harder than its Asian peers by an economic crisis in Europe due to relatively weaker public finances and dependence on commodities.

Nomura chief economist for Asia ex-Japan, Robert Subbaraman, said last week that unlike most Asian countries, Malaysia will be negatively affected by an expected drop in commodity prices while the government will also find it difficult to keep up stimulus policies.

He said Malaysia ranked third in Asia ex-Japan in terms of exposure to European bank claims, after Hong Kong and Singapore, which could mean a drying up of liquidity should European banks start to cut their exposure to the region.

Figures provided by Subbaraman showed that European bank exposure to Malaysia amounted to US$50 billion (RM155 billion), or about 19 per cent of GDP, double that of the Asia ex-Japan average of nine per cent.

“That is something of an exaggeration,” Jayasankaran said.

“Since the early 1990s, the central bank has pushed foreign banks to incorporate locally which means they actually have capital here and aren’t just representative offices that actually derive their funds from their overseas parents.”

He said this meant there were risk management practices in place to protect local depositors, implying less exposure.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz has also dismissed the US$50 billion figure as “exaggerated”, he added.


SECOND MI STORY
Malaysia among most vulnerable to euro crisis, says Nomura

By Lee Wei Lian
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 07, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 — Malaysia will be hit harder than its Asian peers by the economic crisis in Europe due to its relatively weak public finances and dependence on commodities, said Nomura International today.

Its chief economist for Asia ex-Japan, Robert Subbaraman, said that unlike most countries in Asia, Malaysia will be negatively affected by an expected drop off in commodity prices while the government will also find it difficult to keep up stimulus policies.

“Malaysia is one of the economies that will weaken the most; it is in the weaker group of economies,” said Subbaraman at a media briefing here today.

Nomura economist for Southeast Asia Euben Paracuelles said Malaysia’s growth in the first three quarters of this year was largely led by government spending, but as public finances were relatively weak, he doubted that it would be sustainable.

Subbaraman also noted that Malaysia ranked third in Asia ex-Japan in terms of exposure to European bank claims, after Hong Kong and Singapore, which could mean a drying up of liquidity should European banks start to cut their exposure to the region.

Figures provided showed that European bank exposure to Malaysia amounted to US$50 billion (RM155 billion), or about 19 per cent of GDP, double that of the Asia ex-Japan average of nine per cent.

Commodities would dip by 15 per cent if a slowdown hits, says Paracuelles.Only the financial centres of Hong Kong and Singapore had higher exposures, at 77 and 55 per cent of GDP respectively.

“As European banks pull back exposure, it will show up as net capital outflow and availability of funding will start to dry up,” said Subbaraman.

He noted, however, that Malaysia still has a large current account surplus at 13 per cent of GDP, which should help support the ringgit against hefty depreciation against the US dollar, due to its trade performance.

Paracuelles said that if a global downturn happens, there would be a 15 per cent decline in commodity prices.

Malaysian government economists earlier said their economic projections were bolstered by expected continued high rubber and palm oil prices, which would help boost rural area spending.

Petronas said in a briefing last week that it expects oil prices to decline to US$85-87 per barrel next year, from US$110 currently.

In its November Asia Economic Monthly report, Nomura noted that Malaysia faces the prospect of unsustainable fiscal support.

“Given the public debt to GDP ratio of 55 per cent, the second highest in Asia, scope to continue with a very expansionary fiscal policy next year could prove to be limited,” said the report.

The report forecast a growth of 3.6 per cent for the first quarter of next year but rising to 7.3 per cent by the fourth quarter to give a full year growth of 5.1 per cent.

Subbaraman also said the risk of a hard landing in China is “not trivial” although the threat is greater after 2013-2014, following the handover of power to the next generation of leaders.

Nomura expects growth in Asia to drop to 6.6 per cent next year, from 7.5 per cent this year, and revised its 2012 global growth forecast from 3.8 per cent to 3.2 per cent.



Sunday 11 December 2011

Bridge to happiness

I think I will be happy about something next month....probably Tun Dr  Mahathir Mohamad and all true Malaysians will be happy too....sorry, can't say more than that. Till next month, ok.
.

Saturday 10 December 2011

BIGCAT rambles on

Still on the road and can't post anything proper. Really lots of work to do.

Well, of course there is that Irda nonsense. Later lah I write more about that. U all probably got the basic info at Rockybru's or Mole. Stupid pricks la these Irda people. Well, what do you expect from an organisation whose HOD of legal department is someone whose experience closes to practicing law was teaching external degree students at some backlane private college. Like that also monthly salary over 20k. Sheesh...tegur sikit lodge police report, kerah MCMC. What la.....eh, tired lah talking about these people.

Need to get off now. the lorry driver giving me a ride is calling for me outside this cybercafe (really need to get myself a laptop lah). No time to get good picture to go with this posting. Maybe another song eh....this one made me cried the first time I listened to it. I am that sentimental....hehehehe


Ok. Continuing my journey. Cheers everyone.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Lagu Cina

My no good bosses had given me lots of work these past few days. Got no time to post anything too lengthy.
So, today I am just posting this Chinese song in case anyone of you want to learn it. You don't want, don't bother to check this video, ok.


Sunday 4 December 2011

What education means to the Chinese

Malaysia, a Malay majority country is the only country in this world other than China and Taiwan which has a proper Chinese education system.

Not even an overwhelmingly Chinese majority country like Singapore has that education system.

The root of Chinese education system in this country could be traced back to those harsh years of upheaval at the end of the Qing dynasty and start of the modern Chinese republic at the turn of the 20th century.

When the Chinese started to migrate to this country due to the harsh living condition in their homeland at that time, the Malays, typical of their amiable ways, hardly objected. After all, the land was rich and resources were plenty. What is wrong with sharing? That was the ways of the Malays. Under the colonial yoke of those days, the Malays were poor and so did the migrant Chinese.

Those early Chinese migrants, who were mostly tin and plantation laborers set up their community and develop other sectors of their social economy. They worked really hard. Trade made them relatively prosperous while the friendly natives never interfere with their cultural and religious practices.

In a short period, the Chinese, who were never forced in anyway to shed their racial identity like their brethrens in other South East Asian countries were the second most prosperous community in the country, just a rung lower than the colonial masters.




Chinese schools started mushrooming in the country around that time. The southern State of Johor, which received an influx of Chinese migrants from their landing point in Singapore have the largest number of Chinese schools till today. Some of the best Chinese schools in this country is located in Johor. Two of the best are Foon Yew High School in Johor Baru and Chung Hwa High School in Kluang. A large number of local Chinese intellectuals are alumni of these schools. In term of quality, Chinese schools in Johor are only rivaled by those in Penang.

When the country achieved its independence, the government did try to merge the Chinese education system with the national system much to the unhappiness of the Chinese community. Their protestation was understandable as their education system has been around for so long and they had built it with so much of sacrifices and hard work. You can read how they had build those schools here -

A message from a Chinese school graduate

The country's founding fathers recognizes this wish of the Chinese community and they relented. It has always been the Malaysian way till now not to force anyone to change their religious or racial identity.

Even as the authorities in neighboring Singapore cracked down on the Chinese educationists due to their leftist leanings in the 1960s and 1970s, those in this country never did so as they feel that the Chinese education system produces more good Malaysians rather than troublemakers.



Malaysia, along with most of the South East Asian countries at that time belong to the Western bloc of the Cold War era. It fought a long hard Communist insurgency which was backed by China. Yet, Malaysia was the first to extend a friendly hand to China when then PM Tun Abdul Razak visited the country in the early 1970s.

The Chinese remember this, and Malaysia had since been a trusted friendly country, even more than Singapore which is runs by ethnic Chinese. After all, Malaysia has never been too overtly pro-West like Singapore.

When Singapore tried to switch its Anglophile image and assert more of its Chinese heritage, China view it with much suspicion. These Singaporean Chinese had after all uprooted the soul of their community which is the Chinese education system just due to political expediency.

They had done so, so that they can be like the Western ang moh at that time - rich and progressive. They see the mainland Chinese as poor, backward and run by an authoritarian regime. The white men are GODS. Everything western are good. Even the girls think that white men are better than Chinese men. At one point, it was even fashionable to have a white boyfriend.

Now, with China set to become the biggest economy of the world, the ang moh Singaporean Chinese are starting to learn mandarin again - with much difficulty that is. Lee Kwan Yew had in his latest memoir suddenly regretted his decision to suppress the Chinese educationists and choked to death the Nanyang University. He wished to turn back the clock and corrected where he had went wrong before he died. Well, too late old man, what is done is done. Once you betray your heritage, your ancestors will curse you.


Back in Malaysia, no past leaders need to regret letting the Chinese schools to stay. They enrich our country as part of our cultural diversity. The Chinese of this country and those of the mainland China will remember this - Malaysia, is the only country not part of the Middle Kingdom where the Chinese can retain their heritage as the way they are because this country, since its independence had been governed by sensible leaders.

For those who want to know more what education means to the Chinese, look out for these series of excellent BBC documentary about schools in China. I put a sample of the first part of the series here. For the rest - google "Chinese schools" and you will find them on You Tube.




Saturday 3 December 2011

Irda's way of doing things

What was meant as an advice to the top management of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) in one of my postings almost three weeks ago had turned into an all out cyber slug fest between factions in the organization. You can read it at the comments section which followed the posting here -

A little warning to Irda

The last comment received last night was probably from the faction siding with the management -
Anonymous said... 
KOMEN TIDAK MEMBANGUN INI DITUTUP SECARA RASMINYA. Semua fitnah dan niat jahat mereka-mereka yang tidak bertanggung jawab telah dilapurkan kepada pihak polis termasuk kakitangan IRDA yang telah kenalpasti dan dijejak alamat IP nya. Tindakan disiplin termasuk diberhentikan kerja sedang menunggu kalian minggu hadapan selepas surat tunjuk sebab dan DI dijalankan. Terima kasih.


I don't know whether it is a bluff or for real. If it is for real, then we may expect to soon see headlines in the newspapers or webportals which read something like this - EIGHT IRDA SENIOR OFFICIALS AMONG THOSE SACKED DUE TO CYBER DISSENT.

Whatever it is, I have to conclude that the management of Irda will stick with the current style of doing things.

Well, that is too bad.





Probably they are doing the right thing. Why would such a powerful organisation want to listen to an advice of an insignificant anonymous blogger like me.

On the other side, members of the faction who are unhappy about what is going on in their organisation seems to be defiant.

I received an e-mail this morning from one of them who has been working for Irda for the past four years.

"Things are so bad now that I don't care anymore if they find me out and sack me. At least I had my say. Thanks," she said at the end of the e-mail.