The Enigm@ Chronicles

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Posts Tagged politics

Terengganu Government Snubs Proton for Mercedes

Jul 22

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in Politics, point out | Comments

In the newest and latest umbrage to local carmaker Proton and not to mention the tax paying citizens of Terengganu, the state government has forgone their support for the Proton Perdana V6’s and instead has selected to purchase 14 Mercedes’s E200 Kompressor from the foreign car manufacturer for the use of their state exco’s.

The MB of Terengganu – in a knee-jerk attempt to explain the decision – has indirectly stated the reasons for the switch being that there are various issues that have plagued Proton cars especially in the area of the maintenance costs.

He also has the nerve to cite better resale value for the Mercedes as a plus point for the Mercedes purchase. This of course is pretty much bullshit as we Malaysian all know that the state official cars are mostly sold off for peanuts to these politicians who basically end up taking us all for the ride!

Now I am not even going to ask the question why would the exco’s of Terengganu require such expensive cars the likes of Mercedes when in reality the current standing of the state of Terrengganu is as the 2nd poorest state in the country.

Instead I would like to pose this scenario to the people of Terengganu:
Imagine being a low income citizen struggling to survive in these harsh times, who has the misfortune to see their duly appointed politician making their rounds among the citizens in their luxury Mercedes!
Turun Ke Padang has never been so stylish as it will be in Terrengganu.

Furthermore this issues has highligted another glaring sign of the lack of power of our current PM and his DPM holds. Instead of directly telling off their subbordinates in Terrengganu to stick to Proton as would have been the case previously, Najib has instead announced that the ‘cabinet’ will meet and discuss the issue. I mean with things like an ailing economy of their books one would think that the cabinet has better matters to talk about.

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A Waste of The Rakyat’s Monies

May 6

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in point out | Comments

The latest in what is surely a long long list (unproven due to lack of tangible proof) of the mismanagement of public funds (read: rakyat’s monies) is the highly embarrassing escapades of PM Badawi and DPM Najip.

News first surfaced on the web via the ever delightful Lulu’s blog, and was then picked up by MP Tony Pua with his blog post containing the direct question and reply of the current issue in parliament.

The question:

Berapakah jumlah perbelanjaan yang ditanggung oleh Kerajaan sepanjang tempoh kempen Pilihan Raya Umum ke 12 dari 24 Februari sehingga 7 Mac 2008 hasil dari penggunaan jet eksekutif Kerajaan bagi kegunaan YAB Perdana Menteri dan YAB Timbalan Perdana Menteri.

The answer:

Bagi tempoh 24 Februari sehingga 7 Mac 2008, jumlah perbelanjaan untuk penggunaan jet eksekutif adalah sebanyak RM792,325.20.

Now the thing that really gets to me is that in the time period specified (24 Febuary to 7 March 2008) these personalities were by right not entitled to the right and privileges of their positions as they had reverted to being candidates and not the actual PM and DPM.

So while campaigning to be re-elected, these leaders of our government were in actuality squandering the rakyat’s monies on flying themselves all across the country in order to campaign.

And mind you this are the very same people who have the cheek to tell us rakyat to live within our means a.k.a ubah gaya hidup!

Meanwhile to offer you readers a contrast let me point out that the new CM of Penang Lim Guan Eng was recent spotted seated in the economy class section in the plane on his flight back to Penang.

Once again this is another failure to walk the walk after talking the talk in the case of the PM and DPM.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, ….

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Azalina’s Motives for MoU Cancellation Doubtful At Best

Apr 8

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in Governance, Op-ED, Politics | Comments

update: Not surprisingly the rakyat has responded in a multitude of ideas & suggestion in as much as complaint against Azalina’s highhandedness on the cancellation of the tourism MoU’s. See here .

When new Tourism Minister Azlina last week announced that the tourism MoU’s signed with the 4 new Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states are to be terminated there was an avalanche of criticism from all quarters. Loudest on the matter was of course the PR led state governments’ leaders and no shortage of public opinion was drummed up in the days following the announcement.

Yesterday Azalina "cleared the air" on the issue and stated that the cancellation of the MoU’s would not discriminate against any state, tourism organisation and also the rakyat themselves. When I said she "cleared the air" what I specific meant is that reading between the lines of her statement we are presented with a few viewpoints on how things should work in Azalina’s book.

* * * N O T E * * *
From this point forward are all conjecture(s) on the writers part and cannot be claimed to be fact in absence of cold hard proof!

Retention of tourism funds and its various money flows in the hands of BN.

Reason numero uno behind Azalina’s decision in my opinion is that the tourism allocation and funds that are normally granted to the Tourism Action Councils (TAC) – nominally lead by the state exco members – must remain in the hands of BN . Basically now that PR has come into power in the 4 new states, BN members will no more be able to sit on the TAC councils. Hence if things were to remain as they were then the PR state exco’s would have had access to the monies and thus have the capability to carry out tourism activities or events on their own. This of course is a big no no and the result is her decision to cancel the MoU’s with the states. Nowhere more clear is the point made than by her own self:

On whether the Pakatan state governments will have access to the funds, Azalina said: "The difference is who signs the cheque – they sign the cheques or we sign the cheques?
"This is the federal government, so we sign the cheques. What’s the big deal?”

Continuation of the infamous "Satu Lagi Project Kerajaan BN" propaganda in terms of the tourism activities.

Tied hand in hand with the first reason above is the mentality of continuing the not so subtle propaganda of the "Satu Lagi Project Kerajaan BN" . If the Tourism Ministry can control and direct the TAC in the PR held states then they can conduct all the tourism activities and events under the all encompassing umbrella of brand BN . This can later on be used as political mileage come the next general elections. Just recall the various highlights that tourism events in Kelantan were given in the local MSM – ultimately affording BN all the kudos. My point is somewhat justified in lieu of the following statement:

Tourism Ministry secretary-general Dr Victor Wee explained that there were two issues in the matter.
Firstly, TACs in the opposition states will no longer be headed by the state excos for tourism and will instead be led by him or a person appointed by the minister, he said.
"And second, is the way the funds will be channeled. The funds will no longer go through the states but through a federal mechanism. Because of the nature of the new political scenario, the MOUs with the states will be cancelled.

Staying true to her "Politics is a marriage of convenience" agenda.

Just last week Azalina was quoted to have said that politics is a marriage of convenience . Her point is well justified by her own actions with her high handedness of cancelling the tourism MoU’s in the Pakatan held states. The priorities in her opinion is most definitely not for the betterment of the tourism industry, the economy and that of the rakyat directly affected. Rather most likely first and foremost priority is BN itself and ensuring that it’s powerbase is protected . Again the line of thought here is that as long as BN can dole out the proverbial crumbs , matters will have to go through them for their approval and blessing.

On the way the funds are channeled – instead of money going to the Pakatan state governments and it will now go to ministry-controlled committees – the minister said that it was the federal government’s perogative.
"It applies to all the states which is being led by opposition government. This has happened for the past few years with Kelantan and we’ve never discriminated as far as tourism projects are concerned. We’ve been very fair.”

Thus the actions of Azalina in her capacity as the new Tourism Minister can be viewed either way. Justifying her point of view is her statement that tourism activities and events will continue to go on in the Pakatan governed states – only it’ll be under the purview of the federal government. But anyone who can connect the dots will see the decision for what it truly is – a desperate attempt at grasping for the reins of power to be held as firmly as possible in the hands of BN, with any means necessary.

Reference:

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Parliament To Be A Family Issue?

Apr 5

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in Humour, point out | Comments

PKR President Datin Seri Dr. Wan Azizah and new incumbent MP Nurul Izzah Anwar are set to be the first mother-daughter team in the same session of parliament since 50 years of independence.

Previously there has already been pairs of father-son teams with Opposition’s Lim Kit Siang and his son Lim guan Eng taking the current honours previously held by Barisan’s Tun Ghafar Baba and his son Mohd Tamrin Ghafar.

Nepotism(click to enlarge)

But what really tickles me silly and besides adding another family paradigm onto this parliament session is the debut of the first ever father-in-law and son-in-law team of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Khairy Jamaluddin. Though the FIL is not usually in parliament due to his busy schedule, at least now the SIL will be able to give him updates and first hand account directly. Works even if FIL falls asleep on the job once more.

Now all we need is a a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law team to complete the set.

 

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Clueless UMNO Information Chief Claims Unfairness!

Apr 4

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in Politics, point out | Comments

New UMNO Information Chief Muhammad Muhd Taib is apparently as clueless as they come nowadays. It would seem that the various roles and responsibilities of a leader is a foreign concept to him when he actually goes on the record to defend PM Abdullah Badawi. Muhd Taib also goes as far as to plead unfairness of it all for Badawi to be cited with the brunt of the blame.

It would seem that expecting the party leader to shoulder the leadership responsibilities – both the good and the bad – are a concept foreign in UMNO. Then again nobody would actually expect Muhd Taib to brazenly come out against his own boss more so since the new lease of life in politics that he has been recently granted.

This is in reference to the following report published on Malaysiakini, Muhammad Muhd Taib

Mat Taib jabs Dr M, defends Pak Lah

Defending his party president during a press conference at his Rural And Regional Development Ministry in Putrajaya, Muhammad said people should stop pointing fingers at Abdullah.

“What Mahathir and people are doing now is very, very wrong. It is not fair to point fingers at one person when everybody knows there were many contributing factors.

“It is very unfair to dump the blame on the PM. This is unfair and done in bad faith,” he said.

Muhammad was referring to “unfair” comments from Mahathir made at a forum yesterday on how Abdullah was shameless in refusing to resign for Barisan Nasional’s biggest election setback last month.

‘Not a level playing field’

He pointed out that there were also other contributing factors to BN’s performance including the role played by bloggers, news portals and short messaging service (SMS).

“It wasn’t a level-playing field (between the BN and opposition). BN did not use the portals, SMS and ICT (information and communications technology) to the fullest,” he said.

Muhammad noted that the BN lost in the “virtual elections” while opposition had cashed in on using video CDs showing temple demolitions which caused the swing of Indian voters.

And Muhd Taib doesn’t stop there. He even has the audacity to say that there wasn’t a level playing field between BN and PR – citing the oppositions’ use of blogs, news portals and SMS to spread their stand. Apparently a ‘level playing field’ in the dictionary of UMNO is the situation where the following hold true:

  1. UMNO hold all the card

  2. UMNO deals out all the ‘party favour’ exclusively

  3. BN shackles the MSM into a blatantly pro-establishment propaganda machinery

I say good job to the opposition for utilizing new media to spread the truth. I say damn great job for spreading the information of the temple demolitions that were virtually blacked out on the MSM’s. I say thank god we don’t live in the totally unrealistic world of Muhd Taib’s delusions anymore.

He can shift the blame to bloggers, news portals and SMS as much as he want to but we Malaysian have long known the truth behind UMNO’s lies and propaganda. All he has managed to do is to show us that he is talking without thinking things through.

 

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MP Calls for Telecasted Parliamentry Sessions.

Apr 2

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in Uncategorized | Comments

Parliament House at Dusk (by nadi0)

 

One of the 12 step for parliamentary reform put forward by Lim Kit Siang both in 2004 and once again a couple weeks ago called for the live broadcasting of the Parliamentary session on TV.

The main reasons for this is to allow the public to see the democracy at work and also to view what their elected ministers of parliament (MP’s) are doing in the parliamentary session.

Of course this call has seen absolutely no response from the current government. Yet some few industrious people has somehow been able to provide the videos of the parliamentary debates online via services like Youtube. This has sparked a revolution of sorts as the everyday joe public with internet access could finally have a real and unfiltered view of the of the debate sessions.

Of course what we say dismayed, shocked and utterly  stunned us as some portion of our so called MP’s were not up to the standard we have expected them to adhere to. From unbelievable antics like calling the opposition MP’s bodoh (idiot) to blatantly sexist remarks of bocor setiap bulan (liken to the menstrual cycle of women) these are what our elected MP’s were saying and doing in parliament. Be it as it may that these cases are only a small number occurrences and that these MP’s are actually doing their job most of the time, I for one cannot except that our MP are allowed to get away scot free with such blatant statements and ridiculous acts.

So after the tsunami of the 12 general election, changes have been touted and some are on the card at least for now. Therefore it is with some interest today that I read this article from The Star titled Call for live Parliament telecasts that refers to Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul calls for parliamentary session to be telecasted live or delayed for the citizenry to follow the proceedings.

We want the public to know what the MPs speak on and how they conduct themselves,” said the PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat).

He said it was time for Malaysia to allow such telecast as happens in other countries.

He said he would make such proposal when the parliament convenes next month.

Johari said allowing rakyat to follow through the sittings would make MPs more accountable and serve the people better in their respective constituencies.

If Johari is serious in wanting to pursue for this matter, I would like to be the first person to wish him all the best. I think I can safely say on behalf of all Malaysians, that we want the parliament sessions to be broadcasted – live or slightly delayed and uncensored!

 

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MCA: Please Change The "Tow Party Line" Into Bipartisanship

Mar 23

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in Op-ED, Politics | Comments

Bipartisanship IS Possible!

With the news of the announcement that the Selangor MCA division’s decision to resign from all state level positions, MCA’s strategy as the opposition in the state government clearly comes down to basically sitting back and letting things deteriorate.

As seen time and again the BN’s component parties have always required their members to tow the party line – full stop! In the current view of being the opposition this time around in Selangor, MCA has clearly forgotten that win or lose they are still the representatives of the people and communities they were elected to represent.

Isn’t there some way that these MCA councilors might possibly be able to work hand in hand with the new state government for the betterment of the people?

Unfortunately it would seem that line of thought is taboo and the answer is no dice!

In my opinion MCA’s move to resign from all their various post in the state government machineries can be summarised as their political strategy in making the next 5 years of the new Selangor state government an uphill battle. Basically their attitude smacks of washing their hand clean of responsibility to the people in lieu of their recent losses!

This makes one wonder if serving the people was ever the foremost in MCA’s mandate. However as a consolation, in the game of politics things are never that easy nor clear cut to begin with.

Personally, my thoughts are that MCA should seriously wake up from their outdated practices and look into revamping their political line of thought into one that’s a more Bipartisanship.

Show they people that you can still serve them in any capacity – be it as state leaders or even as opposition leaders!

(Pics courtesy of fisserman)

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Did Khir Toyo Back Out For Reasons Mentioned Or….

Mar 22

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in Uncategorized | Comments

Apparently Khir Toyo is out.

And supposedly it’s because he suddenly ‘felt responsible‘ for the devastating defeat BN suffered in Selangor. DUH!!!

After nearly two weeks post-election Khir Toyo’s conscience has finally caught up with him. And he’s now stepping forward to take the brunt of the responsibility, albeit being 2weeks late on that account. In that time he’s been pandering of going around to round up those 63-years and above and also young children in order to register them for the respective promises of free medication and free education. And let us not forget his call to the citizens of Selangor to NOT pay their water bills until the promises 20 cubic meters of water is given for free – this from the former MB of the state!

So all in all to me the timing of the matter is at best questionable.

The way I see it Khir Toyo’s handling of matters in his doing it ‘My Way‘ approach during his time as MB of Selangor is going to come back and bite him. There are documents missing (my guess: minutes of the state exco meetings) and when there are documents missing one cannot be faulted in thinking that there something to hide.

So while Khir Toyo bids adieu, I have a feeling he is soon to be under a very different spotlight than he’s normally used to. I’m expecting some though questions to be put forward pretty soon and as it is – all roads lead to Khir Toyo.

 

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Is UMNO full of Resentment and Ill Intent?

Mar 14

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in Politics, point out | Comments

Idiocy

 

 

There are some general expectation in politics that are standard anywhere around the world. One of these is the accepting of defeat gracefully. The Japanese have the hara-kiri equivalent in politics where politician will step down due to the loss of honour. And yet this very concept is alien and apparently does not exist in the UMNO party here in Malaysia.

Unsurprisingly there are already statements that highlight the gross short-sightedness prevalent among the UMNO party and as I’ve posted before here also a similar streak in the MCA component party of BN.

When given the boot out of Penang by the voters, The Penang UMNO leadership in a major show resentment and ill intent had this to say:

Penang Umno to recommend stopping all state mega projects

Penang Umno will recommend to the Federal Government to stop all proposed mega projects in the state, include those planned under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), the second Penang Bridge, the light monorail transit system, the Penang Outer Ring Road, the Penang Sentral and the RapidPenang bus service. State Umno secretary Datuk Azhar Ibrahim said the previous Gerakan-led state government had worked together with the federal government to bring all sorts of development to Penang.
“Since the people have clearly rejected development and made their choice for a change, we will recommend to the federal government to cancel all such projects. Don’t blame us for this,” he said after a state liaison committee meeting here today. In March 8 polls, Umno only won two parliamentary seats and 12 state seats.
The meeting was chaired by the deputy state Umno liaison committee chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Rashid Abdullah. Also present were Umno division chiefs from all 13 divisions.
Asked if this was Umno’s revenge, Azhar, who was appointed opposition chief, said: “This is not revenge…it is the new government’s responsibility to bring development to the state. We have done so many things in the past but we were criticised…we were blamed for wasting this and wasting that.”
To another question if this would bring about any implications to the people, he said: “The people have chosen and they wanted a new leadership.”

First they challenged the people to make their voice heard via the ballot box. Then when the people send a clear message to these power hungry bafoons, all of the sudden they get pissed off

So my fellow Malaysians, can there be any more clearer a message on how UMNO has always looked out for itself first and foremost (i.e. the UMNOputeras) – then only in the context of importance comes the Malay community, and then the rest of Malaysia.

This is the core of the government we have been ignorantly voting into power for 50 years!

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Is BN a Sore Loser or are They Trying to Provoke Racial Tension

Mar 14

Posted by Jasraj Sandhu in Op-ED, point out | Comments

It’s barely been a couple of days and already the attacks have begun. Instead of reviewing their many mistakes that had contributed to the stunning loss to the oppositions parties of DAP, PKR & PAS, Barisan is apparently quickly getting on the “blame wagon” – either that or they are actively trying to cause racial tension.

For my first example is this report on MCA’s Ong Ka Chuan’s statement in the article following article from The Star on the 11th of March.

DAP has duped voters, says Ka Chuan

IPOH: The DAP has revealed its “true face” to the people by cooperating with PAS to form the next state government, Perak MCA chief Datuk Ong Ka Chuan said.

“All this while, the DAP has been denying that it is working with PAS when they sought the support of the Chinese community in Perak during the campaigning period,” he said.

“After getting their votes, the DAP is doing otherwise,” he said yesterday when commenting on the new ruling coalition government of the DAP, PKR and PAS.

The DAP, he said, should apologise to the voters for having duped them about not working together with PAS when wooing them before the just-concluded polls.

Ong, who is also the MCA secretary-general, said the DAP might even go to the extent of allowing a PAS leader to be the new Mentri Besar.

“How are they going to explain to the Chinese community? The DAP had not been honest right from the start,” he asked.

The DAP should have told the community right from the beginning that they were cooperating with PAS so that the voters would be able to make a wise decision at the ballot box, he said.

“Now the DAP is doing otherwise. I feel sad that the situation has become like this,” he added.

“The people gave the DAP their trust and this is how the DAP is repaying them – by working with an Islamist party,” said the newly-elected Tanjong Malim MP.

Then there this article, again by The Star on the 12th of March, from BN’s former MB of Selangor Khir Toyo:

Barisan will act as a watchdog, says Khir

SHAH ALAM: The state Barisan Nasional will act as watchdog to ensure that the three parties forming the state government delivered on election promises as stipulated in their manifestoes, said former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo.

Breaking his silence for the first time since the recently concluded general election, Dr Khir said, “I hope the three parties (PKR, DAP and PAS) will take the best care possible of the people and this beautiful and good state, after receiving the mandate from the people.

“We will work together with the state government if the projects benefit the people and are carried out transparently.”

He was speaking at a press conference yesterday at the Selangor Umno building here.

Dr Khir, who left the building on Saturday without talking to the press after learning of Barisan’s defeat in the state, had cancelled several scheduled press conferences before last night.

He said Barisan would register all pre-schoolers, senior citizens, single mothers and students so that they could receive all the benefits such as free education, allowances and healthcare that were promised.

Asked about rumours that the state Barisan had tried to woo PAS assemblymen to gain a simple majority, Dr Khir said this was not true.

Commenting on claims that Barisan had tried to destroy documents kept at the state secretariat building, Dr Khir said these were just rumours and that he had always been transparent and all the papers were in order.

“We have nothing to hide,” he said.

And if anymore proof is needed to justify my point, there is this third example available from The Star (13th of March):

Ong: Perak voters cheated

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP has cheated its voters as a PAS state assemblyman will be sworn in as the Perak mentri besar today, Perak MCA chief Datuk Ong Ka Chuan said.

Ong, who is also the MCA secretary-general, said DAP should apologise to its voters, saying it was sad to hear that Perak PAS secretary Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin will be the mentri besar.

He said Mohammad’s appointment went against the wishes of voters, especially non-Muslims.

“Having a mentri besar from PAS creates fear among non-Muslims. This also creates political instability.”

Ong, who is also the newly-elected Tanjong Malim MP, said the Chinese in Perak voted for DAP to uphold justice and change for the better but the opposite seemed to have happened.

On Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham as the Deputy Mentri Besar (I), Ong said the Perak constitution states that the MB must be a Malay, though the Sultan has the discretion to waive this.

However, it did not state the existence of a deputy MB post, said Ong.

“There is no such post in the Perak constitution,” said Ong.

The Regent of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, met the three nominated candidates for the mentri besar’s post at 5pm yesterday.

The candidates were Ngeh (Sitiawan), state PKR treasurer Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) and Mohammad (Pasir Panjang).

My Two Cent’s

Way to go Ka Chuan!

Play the racial card even more. Stoke the coals under the racial issue even more. Show the people of Perak and the rest of Malaysia what exactly is the narrow mentality of MCA and by extension BN. Your instigation and attempts to drive the wedge between the Chinese voters and the rest of the races are pathetic at best and down right kolot (backwards) in my opinion.

And shall we not forget the sore loser former MB Khir Toyo. He’s probably never heard of the concept of losing gracefully. That one is by no means a gentleman.

BN, BN, BN…. what has thou become! Disgraceful is your true nature once again revealed.

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