A woman today asked that an independent commission be set up to investigate the fatal shooting of her son by police on October 20 last year after he was believed to be involved in snatch thefts.

Sapiah Elah, 52, from Simpang Waha Felda, Kota Tinggi, said the authority had still not carried out a thorough investigation nor explained the fatal shooting of her son, Mohd Afham Arin, 18, although the incident happened seven months ago.

“I’m not satisfied as police also tried to bluff me by saying that my son was still alive when I arrived at the Seri Alam police station when he was already dead after being shot at by police in the early hours of Sept 20.

“I am also disappointed that I had to wait long to meet the Johor CID chief over the incident and to claim my son’s body from the Sultanah Aminah Hospital,” she said at a press conference arranged by Johor Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), here, today.

Sapiah claimed that Mohd Afham who was riding the motorcycle with 19-year-old Mohd Firdaus Marsani as pillion rider, was a good son and had no previous criminal record.

She urged the Home Ministry to view the incident seriously and hoped that an independent commission of inquiry could clear her son’s name as he was alleged by police to have been involved in 25 robbery cases.

Mohd Firdaus who also demanded justice in the case, refuted the police allegation that he had waved a machete at the policemen, thus forcing the policemen to shoot at them in self-defence.

He related that he and Mohd Afham were chased by three men on motorcycles in Taman Johor Jaya after having dinner.

He said that out of fear, as the three men were in plainclothes and did not show their authority cards, Mohd Afham sped off towards Pasir Gudang with the three men giving chase.

“On reaching a corner near the bridge on the route to Seri Alam, I heard a gunshot from behind followed by two more shots which caused us to fall from the motorcycle,” recalled Mohd Firdaus who managed to flee the scene after falling into some bushes.

He claimed that the death of Mohd Afham who was a student of the Ledang Community College and was undergoing training in Larkin, here, was due to police negligence.

Mohd Firdaus said that in January he gave a statement to the police on the incident but until today had not received any feedback from them. — Bernama

The government is to discuss plans to cut its subsidy bill at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, with cuts likely to be phased in over a period of five years, three government officials told Reuters.

The aim is to reduce the country’s bill from food, petrol, electricity and gas subsidies that official figures show had cost RM24.5 billion in 2009, or 15.3 per cent of total federal government spending.

Twice-detained without charge or trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA), controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin said yesterday that the law had outlived its usefulness.

Describing how it was tabled by then-deputy prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein in 1960 to combat communist terrorists (CT), he added that it was now simply a political tool used by the Barisan Nasional government.

Raja Petra, who writes for the Malaysia Today web portal, insisted that the idea that the ISA was a relic of the British colonial government was a myth.

“The ruling party asks why we complain when it is the British who introduced the ISA. But it was tabled in 1960 and Malaya gained independence in 1957,” the blogger, known widely by his initials RPK, told a packed hall at the BPP Law School.

In his first public appearance since his self-imposed exile over a year ago, he described how even opposition MPs then had backed the bill after assurances from Abdul Razak, who was also home minister, that it would only be used to combat the communist insurgency.

“But after the 1989 treaty in Haadyai, the communist party no longer exists. The emergency situation no longer exists. But we are still officially under the emergency because the ISA is an emergency law and the government can still use it even though it violates the constitution,” he said, referring to clauses which provide for fair trials to Malaysian citizens.

Arguing that the ISA was now only used to silence dissent and keep secrets, he quoted then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed as stating that the terrorist attacks on Sept 11, 2001 would not have happened if the US had a law like the ISA as it would have prevented such a crime.

“You use it to detain people before they commit a crime. We detain them while they are thinking about it. So it prevents you from thinking.

“In the past, the ISA stopped you from shooting and bombing. Today, it stops you from having thoughts. So you have a nation of robots,” he added.

He described how when he talked to many Malaysians, they would say that the government was “terrible” but when asked to vote for the opposition, they would reply, “Nanti kena ISA (we’ll be arrested under ISA).” -TMI

RPK Video in London : Fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has thrown down the gauntlet to Malaysian authorities, challenging them to bring standing charges against him to the courts in the United Kingdom.

The national anti-graft authority has agreed to investigate claims that the prime minister committed an election offence during the Sibu vote, with his pledge to solve flash floods there if Barisan Nasional retained the Parliamentary seat.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed said today that the body would probe any and all complaints.

“All complaints against money politics will be investigated by MACC. We will investigate as long there is a complaint related to money politics,” he told reporters after attending a forum by Transparency International Malaysia.

The Election Commission (EC) had sidestepped the issue brought up by the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, saying the MACC was the right body to carry out investigations.

“That is our responsibility. We have to investigate whoever comes in front of us and complains about... money politics or whatever that is related to corruption,” Abu Kassim said.

MACC investigation director Mustafar Ali added that complaints had been lodged against Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s statement.

“Yes, we have received complaints from several quarters during the by-election. So we have started investigating. We will investigate any party. We have two (complaints), one in Hulu Selangor... and [another in] Sibu.

During a last-minute pitch on the eve of the by-election, Najib announced an allocation of RM5 million for flood-mitigation projects in Rejang Park provided the BN candidate was elected.

“If Robert Lau becomes the MP on Sunday, on Monday I will ask [for] the cheque to be prepared. Do we have a deal or not? We do! You want the RM5 million, I want Robert Lau to win,” Najib told the crowd.

Mustafar said that the MACC may consider calling Najib in for investigation.

“Not at the moment, but if need be of course we will call whoever [was relevant] to testify,” he said.

He also stressed that MACC was “colour blind” and would not be biased in its actions.

“Yes, we take actions against both parties and as mentioned always, MACC is colour blind. We are really colour blind so we will take action whenever we receive information.

“After [an] investigation, whether or not there is a case... depends on the Attorney-General’s office,” he said.

During the forum, which also doubled as a book launch, Umno’s legal counsel Datuk Hafarizam Harun defended Najib’s actions and claimed that the prime minister had not broken the law.

The lawyer also said that it was the duty of the government to bring development to the public.

“This promise is nothing but politics of development, that Umno and Barisan Nasional is bringing development to the people. If you look at Section 10 in Election Offences Act, [it] states that bribery only applies to all of us as individuals, but not the government,” he said.

He argued the Act only referred to a “natural person,” and therefore, Najib was not guilty as he was speaking on behalf of the government.

“So this is the problem, the law only recognises [individuals] but not the government,” Hafarizam said.

However, PKR’s Selayang MP William Leong disagreed and said that Najib was not campaigning as the prime minister but as the president of Umno.

“Sometimes we forget to differentiate between Umno and [the] government. So when a person stands on the podium and campaigns, he is an individual and should be charged,” he said. -TMI

THE whole 15 Billion Ringgit Bakun dam project (Supposed to produce 2400 M w) was conceived by corrupt Mahathir to steal the 10 Billion ringgit worth of Timber from the Chief Minister of Sarawak Taib Mahmud who ‘owns’ all the Timber in Sarawak .

The timber from the forest the size of Singapore (otherwise would be extracted by the CM) is now stolen by Mahathir as Bakun is a federal project. Mahathir asked his favorite crony Ting Pek King to extract the Timber. Ting Pek King subcontracts the extraction to Hii Cham Pee who underreported the volume extracted thereby ‘cheating’ Ting. Mr.Hii subsequently had a high profile court case with Ting. That is another story.

Now Bakun can provide enough electricity to supply Sarawak ’s need 4 times over. Yet Taib Mahmud wants to build another dam Murun. Why? Taib’s company CMS is producing the cement! And he also controls and profit from the steel imports! Now Sarawak electrical company Sesco is now privatized and owned by the CM Taib and his ministers who call it Sarawak Synergy Bhd.

Taib does not want to buy the electricity from Bakun because of his Timber 10 billion worth was ‘stolen’ by Mahathir, therefore he wanted to build another 900 M v Murun dam upstream from Bakun costing 5 billion (1/3 the size of Bakun) Now Murun is 10% completed and need more funds which international banks will not lend to Taib’s company Sarawak Synergy because it is privately owned by Taib and his cabinet.

So Taib now wants to reverse ‘privatize’ the Sarawak synergy company after striping the assets to the government of Sarawak and then obtain loans from foreigners. So they say Rio Tinto an Australian co is interested to use the Bakun electricity which is not true. Then they say a Chinese co maybe keen. This is a lie as the federal groups now realize Bakun is becoming a white elephant.

Now the 600 mile cable from Bakun to west Malaysia has to pass 70% of the way near few islands owned by Indonesia and only 30% of the way is Malaysia owned. So Indonesia has not given permission and is also not keen on to buy Bakun electricity as it cannot afford.

There is not a single company in the world who can make a 600 mile long cable. The electricity loss would be tremendous. (80 %?) and the earth quakes would break the cable. Sabotage and damage due to ships anchors and other passing ships have to be factored in.

I would not be surprised Bakun will produce electricity in few years time but remain a white elephant–much to the credit of the reckless and corrupt PM Mahathir with many stupid ideas and corrupted CM of Sarawak Taib Mahmud who is reputed to be one of the richest men on earth.

MALAYSIAN OBSERVE!

Next Election Remember!

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today labelled Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda) chairman Datuk Azhar Ibrahim an ungrateful person for faulting the state government over flash floods at a housing project in Kuala Sungai Pinang, Teluk Bahang, here.

He said the state government had gone out of its way to facilitate the project, which is being undertaken by Perda.

"However, since he (Azhar) is faulting the state government for the flash floods, henceforth we will be very firm on this," he told reporters after opening the state-level Hepatitis Day, here. -MD




Yesterday, Azhar, who is also Opposition leader in Penang, had lambasted Lim for issuing a stop-work order on the project on the grounds that the flash floods were due to improper drainage.

Azhar further claimed that the works were being carried out according to plans approved by the Penang Municipal Council and Drainage and Irrigation Department, which Lim said the state government would be studying before lifting the stop work orders.

The project involves the building of low-cost units which will be sold at RM38,000 each upon completion.

PAS is willing to allocate additional state seats for non-Muslims who do not get elected during elections.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said that PAS had successfully “amended state constitution laws” in Terengganu back in 1999, when PAS ruled the state, to enable non-Muslims who did not win any state seats during elections to be appointed as state assemblymen.

“In 1999 PAS made a proactive move in Terengganu. Back then, PAS had managed to amend state constitution laws to appoint non-Muslims as state assemblymen if they did not win in elections,” said Abdul Hadi.

The former Terengganu mentri besar told an audience at the launching of the PAS Supporters’ Congress (Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS) that non-Muslims were appointed to “represent the non-Muslim population”, since Terengganu was 90 per cent Muslim.

“This we will replicate [this] if we win other states, but until now Barisan Nasional does not dare do this,” claimed the PAS president.

Abdul Hadi said the allocation of state seats to non-Muslims in other PAS-ruled states was also being discussed by the party.

“It is in consideration,” said Abdul Hadi.

According to the PAS leader, the extra seats for non-Muslims depended on the seat “allocation in the state assembly.

“It’s a different process for different states. Kedah and Kelantan cannot do it yet because of different issues.

“Amendments to the state constitution have to go through the state legal advisors as well as the blessings and signature of the Sultan,” said Abdul Hadi.

PAS Deputy President Nasharuddin Md Isa claimed that Kelantan had already elected “non-Muslim village heads.”

The Islamist party has been on a mission to improve its appeal to non-Muslims, exemplified by the introduction of its supporters’ congress.

The congress has a leadership committee of its own, which consists of its head, a deputy leader, and five lower-ranked deputy leaders (a youth leader, a Wanita leader, as well as one leader from each of the major member races: Chinese, Indian, and Orang Asli).

The Islamist party has already said that it will consider letting members of the congress run under its ticker in the next general election, as well as nominating some to become PAS senators.

But the PAS president was mum on the exact percentage of seats that would be allocated for non-Muslims.

“We have to look at the necessity of the situation. We (also) have to look at Pakatan Rakyat (PR) seat allocations, because we do not want to cause any conflict with parties within PR. We want a straight fight with BN,” he said.

Abdul Hadi also told reporters that PAS would have negotiations with PKR and DAP before making any decisions.

“What needs to be negotiated is during the elections, each of us have (a certain) allocation for state seats.” -TMI

IN a country where tyranny and injustice are the only means of the ruling elites’ existence, the only option the people have is to vote them out. Sabah UMNO/BN is dead convinced that its Federal Leaders are Saints.

Can UMNO/BN Sabah tell us, why Sabah which is rich in natural resources such as oil and timber and cash crop such as oil palm etc is the 2nd poorest state in Malaysia?



The founding fathers’ of Sabah gave their lives, so that the people of Sabah would live and enjoy the gifts of GOD. Now these gifts have been robbed off them and the people marginalized and treated as 2nd class citizens.

UMNO/BN Sabah Ministers’ have mastered the art of rhetoric's and have been lying through their teeth. In short, they have been parroting their political masters and still believe Sabahans are MORONS. They call for the history of Malaysia's formation to be included in our school history books; the question is "which history are these UMNO/BN parrots referring to"?

The one that has marginalized Sabahans and down-graded them to second class citizens, or the one that Sabah is currently the second poorest state in Malaysia because of these very same politicians who have robbed the people?

If at all the people had felt that these UMNO/BN Sabah ‘Leaders’ were made of steel when they "conned" Sabahans into believing that they were fighting for their rights, the people have now awoken to know that these ‘Leaders’ were in actual fact out to "steal".

To change Malaysia for the better, Sabah in particular, we must now change the government. In the words of Sabah's Minister of Tourism and Environment, Masidi Manjun "there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all policy. It has to be tailor-made to suit the peculiarities of Sabah and Sarawak". While I may agree with him, I wonder if it’s just political rhetoric to hoodwink the people and defuse the situation.

I recall Masidi Manjun and Bernard Dompok lying through their teeth, when they said they had NO KNOWLEDGE of a RM 2.8 Billion Kaiduan Dam in Penampang, read more about it at (http://advocateviews.blogspot.com), until I produced the LETTER OF AWARD issued by the very same government they are working with.

So, why should Sabahans believe them now?

Sabahans are patriotic to the nation and will fight to their last drop of blood to defend the nation. And they are always reminded to adhere to and believe in the Constitution. My question is, which constitution are we talking about NOW?

Tun Fuad Stephens had called for the review of the provisions in the constitution of the country because it did not seem to reflect what was intended by the original Malaysian agreement. Look what happened to him and his cabinet ‘dead’. Was it political assassination? The people of Sabah have been oppressed to the extend that they have to BEG for development funds and any meaningful funds comes only once every 5 years during the elections. Sabahans must not and should not be beggars in their own land, They MUST RISE and demand back what rightfully belongs to them.

BN Sabah partners of late have been at each other's throats; which indicates huge cracks within. Ironically, no one has the testicles to say..."we are leaving Barisan Nasional". Why not so? It's obvious ... projects and hand-outs of course. I heard from the grapevine recently that Sabah's Chief Minister Musa Aman and aspiring candidate for Chief Minister Shafie Apdal (PM Najib's "blue-eyed boy") were in a heated argument over projects monopolized by Musa in Semporna. Either way, volcanic eruptions are about to happen.

Sabahans are ready for change. The Sibu, Sarawak by-elections has opened the floodgates with renewed vigour that, it is now possible for the very same tsunami that hit West Malaysia in the 12th general elections to strike again here in East Malaysia.

Sabahans must first change by saying “NO” to bribery and UMNO/BN's corruptive RM50 notes as inducement just to vote for them. Are we tradable commodities … and insultingly … worth just RM50?

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR ) will be having its 6th Annual Congress on the 26th-30th in Kota Bahru and many issues will be deliberated, all under the name of strengthening the party. My question is, does PKR exist in Sabah?

If the answer is in the affirmative, then their leadership in Sabah must be "transparent" and vocal, as their silence may denote non-existence.

Who is actually calling the shots in PKR Sabah? I urge the Leadership to re-visit the problems that are plaguing PKR Sabah to ensure the Party remains relevant in facing the 13th general election. There is a leadership problem that must be addressed immediately, or all hell may break loose.

The people are watching, and they don't like what they see.

I wish to convey my warm wishes and greetings to all my Kadazan brothers and sisters, “KOTOBIAN TADAU KAAMATAN” and to my Dayak brothers and sisters, “HAPPY GAWAI”. May we rise together as one and redeemed back our dignity and claim what rightfully belongs to us.

By: RONNIE KLASSEN (sabahkini)

COMMENT: Sime Darby Bhd Chairman, Musa Hitam has been quoted in the media as saying that the board members of the conglomerate are "men of the highest integrity and credibility".

Few will agree that these are two terms that can be unquestioningly uttered in the same breath as the Bakun dam project in Sarawak, along with transparency and public accountability. Certainly, humanity was missing too in this enveloping tsunami of a tragedy.



If Musa deserves the benefit of the doubt for a fleeting moment, it's indeed a miracle that Sime Darby could remain untouched by the very cesspool of human greed and excess that it has been mired in ever since it decided to jump on the Bakun bandwagon.

There are lessons galore here for the other GLCs (government-linked corporations) in the country and elsewhere as well.

This leads us to wonder whether Musa really knows what these two terms mean.

DOING THE RIGHT THING

Integrity, in its every essence, means doing the right thing, even when no one is looking and no one will ever find out if you do finally choose, willingly, to do something wrong. That's the definition in the compulsory moral studies module used at local universities.

By this yardstick, is Musa really prepared to solemnly swear on any number of holy books that his board members are men of the highest integrity?

Integrity is much more than having a federal government-run National Integrity Institute. If you have no integrity, how can you claim any credibility at all on anything?

No need for Musa to go rushing to get a copy of any holy book.

We can definitely put it to Musa, with certainty, that his board members and he have zero integrity and zero credibility on the entire Bakun saga.

This is not a cynical reference to the project cost overruns which have hit the conglomerate in shouldering the Bakun fiasco and other projects elsewhere.

Forensic accounting-probing for criminal intent and wrong-doing-may well reveal that there was more to it than meets the eye on the issue of project cost over-runs. But that's a separate issue.

If no forensic accounting probe is ever conducted on the Bakun project's cost overruns, estimated at RM450 million at the moment, then Musa of course can no longer claim that he believes in transparency and public accountability.

But let's not wait for the outcome of such a probe, if any.

Transparency and public accountability are the other two words Musa tossed around, according to media reports, to shield himself from continuing public criticism and demands that he and his entire board step down immediately or, failing which, be summarily sacked.

In Japan, according to former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, they would have committed hara-kiri by now. But as hara-kiri expert Mahathir himself has pointed out several times with a straight face, "we (he mentioned only Malays) are a people with no sense of shame", although he didn't include himself in the observation.

No one sees a halo around his head either as he continues to accuse some people - no prizes for guessing-of being "even willing to sell the country, but since they can't sell the country, they sell the sand".

Even without the outcome of the forensic accounting probe, we can easily establish that the Sime Darby board of directors have the very opposite of the noble attributes that Musa has bestowed upon them during his diarrhoea of words with the media in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

No one in his right mind will agree that the Bakun dam project is the last word in integrity, credibility, transparency and public accountability. The volumes written on Bakun can testify to this.

The politics of development

If transparency and public accountability are is indeed the case, why is the project sited in Sarawak, the most notorious state in Malaysia for virtually stealing the people's sweat from the Public Treasury? Government projects in Sarawak, as elsewhere in Malaysia where Umno's writ runs, finally end up double (in the good old days), thrice and even up to 10 times what should be the actual tender price.

This is the skim cepat kaya (get-rich-quick scheme) system in Sarawak that Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud defends under the euphemism, "politics of development".

The physical evidence of the system is all around for us to see in the lifestyles of the rich and notorious politicians of Sarawak.

If nothing has come out of all this in the courts of law, it's simply because the MACC (Malaysian Anti Corruption Agency) chooses to play deaf, dumb and blind. How many prosecutions of the so-called big fish can MACC claim in Sarawak? Even prosecution of the ikan bilis (small dried fish) are difficult to come by in Sarawak because the big fish fear the former will spill the beans.

The financial mismanagement of Bakun began when it was awarded to a company that had zero experience in dam building. All this company did was to strip the timber resources in Bakun bare before shamelessly handing back the project to the federal government.

Yet, the authorities chose to do nothing about this back-tracking. No probe was ever conducted. In fact, the company even managed to collect hefty sums from the federal government for some work it had supposedly carried out at the dam site.

It is into this vicious cycle of sheer incompetence that Sime Darby chose to enter, knowingly, with the exit of the first company from the scene.

If the GLC really believes in transparency, as Musa claims from his "moral high ground", why didn't it ever tell all about its involvement in the Bakun saga to the public, shareholders and the media? All of them have been asking searching questions for years on end in cyberspace.

Chased out of ancestral lands

A foreign company which had also been tapped for Bakun, before Sime Darby, had the good sense and decency to back off from the project in time. They were against contracts being given to the politically well-connected with zero experience.

They also realised that 10,000 tribal folk had been chased out of their ancestral lands to make way for the dam project, not because Sarawak needed it to keep its people employed with energy-intensive industries, but because there are people out there who have an insatiable appetite for money and those whose greed knows no bounds.

Sime Darby, likewise, should not have participated at all in the Bakun dam project. It should have kept the example of the foreign company in mind when the federal government commanded it to rescue Bakun.

Instead, it entered the project willingly, knowing fully well that this was one monumental scandal where it, to re-phrase Richard Nixon's words, was about to hit the ceiling fan. Now, it has happened.

The irony is that Sime Darby, and Musa, see nothing wrong in mentioning integrity, credibility, transparency and public accountability in the same breath as Sarawak and Taib Mahmud, besides the Bakun dam.

Men of great integrity and credibility would have noticed the suffering of the Bakun people. They would not have turned a blind eye to this matter.

Unfortunately, this was exactly what happened even as board members were beating their chests in unison and working themselves up into a frenzy over the plight of the Palestinians in faraway Gaza and the West Bank.

These are gluttons for punishment who continue to threaten the security of Israel and invite disaster upon themselves to deny themselves of their own state.

The plight of the Bosnians, who invited an unparalleled tragedy by declaring an Islamic state in the heart of Christendom, similarly caused tears to well up in the collective eyes of Sime Darby board members, including Musa, not so long ago during a public charity drive for the Balkans.

Trail of broken promises

But who sheds tears for the Bakun people, the Penans, or the other Dayaks in Sarawak who are rapidly losing their ancestral lands, dignity, humanity and pride to companies just like Sime Darby from Peninsular Malaysia?

The authorities have left a trail of broken promises in Bakun and all over the Dayak country as their own leaders looked the other way for a paltry share of the spoils.

The sheer hypocrisy of it all!

Yet we are expected to ditch our collective brains in the nearest toilet bowl and lap up anything that comes from Musa's "men of great integrity and credibility, committed to transparency and public accountability", as if they are the gospel truth.

Interestingly, Bakun was one of the reasons why Mahathir fell out in late 1998 with Anwar Ibrahim, his then deputy prime minister and finance minister. Anwar wanted the project scrapped-certainly he was left out from the spoils-and failing in this attempt, got himself sacked for it, with other reasons cited for his departure. Now the chickens have come home to roost.

By : JOE FERNANDEZ (sabahkini)

The Kedah Pakatan Rakyat government will make an attempt to prove its solidarity tonight by calling on all three of its PKR assemblymen to speak at its mammoth rally in Alor Setar.

Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said the gathering in Kota Sarang Semut near capital Alor Star should quash all talk that it would be hit by a spate of PKR defections that would cause it to topple.

“All those who are supposedly going to defect will be there — all my three PKR assemblyman.

“They will be speaking to the people to dispel talk of their possible defections,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted by phone.

Azizan reiterated that he had no plans to dissolve the Kedah assembly, not even if two assemblymen defected.

His words goes against his earlier statement that he would dissolve the assembly at the slightest indication that one of his men were about to leave.

“Why should I? We still have the majority. We can still govern the state even if they leave,” he said confidently.

He acknowledged that he had already received many “indications” of the purported defections but said they were merely malicious rumours spread by “troublemakers”.

“The question is whether those indications are true or not. Some people have even said that the consent of the Sultan has already been sought for the Barisan Nasional to form the state government but can we believe them?” he said.

In the recent days, talk was rife that more PKR defections would soon follow, particularly in Kedah due to the small seat-majority between the BN and PR assemblymen.

PR holds 20 seats in the 36-seat assembly with PAS holding 16, PKR three and DAP one, while the BN has 14.

The assembly’s two independents Radzhi Salleh (Lunas) and Tan Wei Shu (Bakar Arang) are, however, said to be pro-BN.

The High Court had ordered the Election Commission to call a by-election for the Kota Siputeh state seat in Kedah after the assemblyman Datuk Abu Hasan Sarif twice went AWOL from the state legislative assembly meetings.

The decision is currently being appealed by the EC.

If PR loses three more assemblymen from the assembly, BN’s seat number would shoot to 17, with the support of the two independents while the PR would only have 17 assemblymen.

“But still, don’t forget about the Kota Siputeh seat. The status of that seat is still in question,” Azizan reminded.

When contacted, PKR assemblyman Lim Soon Nee confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that he would be speaking at the rally.

“Whatever I need to explain to the people will be said tomorrow night,” he said yesterday, confidently adding that he would not leave PKR.

A PKR source had named Lim as one of the possible defectors from PKR as he was a close friend of Tan.

PKR’s other two assemblymen Tan Chow Kang (Sidam) and S. Manikumar (Bukit Selambau) had already both denied there was any rift in the PR and assured The Malaysian Insider that they were loyal to their party when contacted earlier.

“I am tired. I think I have spoken about this issue more than 50 times. I have many times denied but people still ask when the issue is brought up,” Tan told The Malaysian Insider.

“I want to close the file, I don’t want to talk about this issue anymore. They invite me for this event, so I will use the gathering to explain and I hope people will know my stand ... and not raise the issue again,” he said.

DAP’s sole assemblyman Lee Guan Aik (Kota Darul Aman) had also agreed with his colleagues and insisted that the Kedah PR government was very strong.

“There may be some problems in the PKR but I do not think it will come to that level. I believe this is just the work of our opponents who are plotting to create this sense of uneasiness in hopes of destroying us,” he had reportedly said. -TMI

PAS has called for the suspension of Sime Darby chairman Musa Hitam, its CEO Azhar Abdul Hamid and its Vice President of Utilities and Energy Division Hisham Hamdan to facilitate an investigation into losses amounting to RM1.63 billion by the giant corporation.

"Any investigation will be made difficult by their continued presence in the organisation," said the party's information chief Idris Ahmad in a statement today.

Idris said the people viewed with suspicion the reasons given for the loss, such as cost overruns incurred from projects in Qatar and the Bakun dam.

"Why was there nothing done to put a brake on cost overruns at the early stage?

"As a seasoned corporate player, Sime should have gauged its investment capabilities in both projects," he said.

Following revelation of the losses, pressure has been mounting on Musa and other top officials of the government-linked company to resign.

Musa, a former deputy prime minister, said he was prepared to resign if auditors investigating the losses could prove his guilt.

“I do not mind stepping down but it must be based on facts. At this point it is not clear yet who should be held accountable," he was reported as saying in the local media.

Describing the losses as gigantic, Idris said the investments by Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and the government's asset management company Permodalan Nasional Berhad, which own 66% of shares in Sime Darby, would also be affected.

Idris said instead of Sime carrying out an internal investigation, a special panel appointed by the government should be formed to probe the company.

He said Sime should take lessons from Pos Malaysia Berhad which had used its losses as an excuse to call for its privatisation. -HD

Two more MIC leaders have come out to openly call for Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu’s early resignation, adding to the mounting pressure on the embattled party president to step down ahead of his plan to quit next year.

The two leaders, KP Samy and G. Kumar Aman, both Central Working Committee (CWC) members, said an extraordinary general meeting should be held to allow the party’s 3,200 delegates decide on the issue.

“I see no value for the Indian society if Samy Vellu continues as party president,” Samy told a press conference today.

Kumar Aman, who attended the same press conference, concurred.

The duo said they were in no way indebted to Samy Vellu and were concerned about the future of MIC.

They added that the party president, who has held fast to his post for over 30 years, had to accept that it was time for him to call it a day.

Samy Vellu, they added, should resign during the party’s annual general meeting this July 10.

The two are at the helm of a budding movement to remove Samy Vellu, which came to light recently when MIC Youth deputy chief V. Mugilan openly called for the president to resign by this Dec 31.

His statement came after Samy Vellu announced on Sunday that he would quit by September next year, ahead of the expiration of his term in May 2012.

The announcement had come as a surprise as many leaders, including those in other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, had assumed the president would leave during the party’s AGM in July.

Samy Vellu had said he had plans to “rearrange” the party and rid it of those who had the intention to “destroy” MIC.

Mugilan and MIC Petaling Jaya South chief, V. Subramaniam, also known as Bharat Maniam, were both sacked after speaking out against Samy Vellu.

In Bharat Maniam’s case, the veteran MIC leader was sacked a week ago after sending an SMS to Samy Vellu, lobbying to be a Senator.

Mugilan was sacked yesterday for asking Samy Vellu’s earlier retirement.

He is expected to appeal his expulsion to the CWC on Monday.

It is unlikely, however, that Samy Vellu will mete out similar punishments to Samy and Kumar Aman.

With the two joining the anti-Samy Vellu bandwagon, more leaders in the party are expected to come forward to voice similar sentiments. -TMI

The Court of Appeal today unanimously denied Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim a stay of his sodomy trial pending the disposal of his appeal against the High Court's dismissal of his bid to get witness statements of his accuser, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Justices Datuk Sulong Matjeraie, Datuk Ramly Ali and Datuk Zaharah Ibrahim ruled that it was unappropriate to grant the stay pending the disposal of the appeal.


Sulong said the High Court ruling was made in the course of a trial and did not dispose off the rights of the party.

"If the applicant succeeds in the appeal before the Court of Appeal, the witness SP1 (Mohd Saiful) can be still be recalled at any stage of the proceedings before judgment and can be further examined and the necessary impeachment proceedings can still be taken," he said.

Justice Zaharah had replaced Justice Mohamed Apandi Ali, who volunteered to to recuse himself from hearing the application earlier, after Anwar's counsel, Karpal Singh, objected to his presence due to his past association with Umno.

Later, Karpal Singh told reporters that he would request the court to fix the hearing of the appeal before May 31.

The High Court had fixed May 31 to resume the trial.

Anwar wants the prosecution to furnish him with Mohd Saiful's witness statements, claiming that there were inconsistencies between Mohd Saiful's testimony and the sodomy charge framed against Anwar.

The defence contended that Mohd Saiful had said that the alleged sodomy took place without his consent but Anwar was charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code, with consensual sexual intercourse.

Anwar filed an application to the Court of Appeal to stay the trial after the High Court, on May 13, refused to grant him the order.

Anwar, 63, is charged with sodomising Mohd Saiful, his former aide, at Unit 11-5-1 of the Desa Damansara Condominium, Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

He faces up to 20 years in jail and whipping if convicted.

Today, Karpal Singh argued that the trial would be rendered nugatory if Anwar succeeded in his appeal and a stay was not granted.

He said the High Court's rejection of Anwar's request for the statements was appealable, a point disagreed by Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, who is heading the prosecution in the sodomy trial.

Mohd Yusof said the High Court decision was only a ruling in the course of a trial and could not be appealed because it was not a final order.


- Bernama