Sampai tua jadi kuli UMNO, Ku Li tukaq selera...

 

Ahli Parlimen Gua Musang Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah mungkin dihantui rasa bersalah kerana menyebabkan Umno Kelantan jatuh sejak 32 tahun lalu hingga mengakibatkan beliau mengambil keputusan mengetuai Angkatan Amanah Merdeka Rakyat Kelantan dalam usaha menumbangkan kerajaan PAS pada pilihan raya umum ke-15 (PRU15).

Pengerusi Umno Kelantan Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub berkata tindakan Tengku Razaleigh yang lebih sinonim dipanggil Ku Li itu mungkin ingin menebus rasa bersalah yang dilakukan terhadap Umno pada 1988.

“Bagi saya jelas, apa peristiwa besar berlaku pada ketika itu, peristiwa malang bagi Umno Kelantan kerana perpecahan dalaman parti kerana PAS bergabung Semangat 46, Umno jatuh di Kelantan sehingga hari ini dan masih lagi berikhtiar untuk cari kemenangan.“Barangkali Ku Li merasakan, menjatuhkan Umno di Kelantan ketika itu satu kesilapan besar,” katanya ketika dihubungi FMT.

Untuk rekod, Ku Li merupakan tokoh politik dari Kelantan yang pernah mengasaskan Parti Melayu Semangat 46 pada 1988 sebelum menyertai semula Umno pada 1996.Sejak pilihan raya umum 1990, Kelantan berada di bawah pentadbiran PAS selama lebih tiga dekad. - fmt

2 bulan jambatan putus, kena redah sungai naik rakit yang lebar satu depa je.Lepas dah seberang, kena naik pula tebing sungai yang curam dengan galas beg sekolah lagi.Ini tahun 2022, bukan zaman perang penjajah lagi. Macammana boleh sampai macam ni? - luqmanlong

Ku Li leads new coalition to overthrow 

Kelantan PAS govt in GE15...

Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah will lead a new coalition called Angkatan Amanah Merdeka Rakyat Kelantan in an effort to overthrow the PAS state government in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).

This was said by Kelantan Amanah deputy chairperson Che Ibrahim Mohamed today, who also revealed that the coalition’s first programme will take place on May 7.

“Congratulations and thank you to Ku Li (Tengku Razaleigh) for being willing to lead the Angkatan Amanah Merdeka Rakyat Kelantan that crosses party and sectarian boundaries.

“Amanah Kelantan is ready to join forces and give full cooperation in order to bring and offer a change to the people of Kelantan,” he said in a Facebook post today.

Malaysiakini previously reported that the Umno veteran had collaborated with the Pakatan Harapan-allied party to capture Kelantan in GE15.

Malaysiakini understands that the collaboration will involve Amanah, DAP and Pejuang as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Not Umno's decision

Meanwhile, Ketereh MP Annuar Musa described Ku Li’s action as being conducted in a personal capacity and had nothing to do with Umno. He explained that any decision involving cooperation between Umno and other parties can only be decided at the party level.

“If anyone acts on an individual basis, it means that it is an individual effort. Individual efforts are not necessarily the same as efforts by the party.

“As far as I know, the initiative, if it is true, is personal. I don’t know yet where it started and where it will end. Sometimes, we talk as individuals but it’s reported like the party is doing it.

“For me, it’s easy for any party to decide, that’s what we will hold and we should not do anything different from what the party decides,” he said.

Annuar had said this to reporters after presenting zakat to underprivileged students at Kompleks Yayasan Kemiskinan Kelantan, Kota Bharu today. - mk

MACC: We've power to probe 

all public officers, including judges...

MACC said it has the power to investigate all public officers, including judges.

In a statement released today, the commission urged the public to give them the room to carry out all processes as permitted under the law. This came amid heavy criticisms against MACC after its chief commissioner Azam Baki confirmed that they had opened an investigation into Court of Appeal judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali (above).

"MACC wants to clarify the issue regarding an investigation against a judge, which had been raised by certain quarters recently and received public attention.

"Based on procedures, this commission is responsible to verify and investigate any report or official complaint that is lodged with MACC concerning matters that are under its jurisdiction.

"MACC is vested with the power to investigate corruption offences under the MACC Act 2009, including to carry out investigation against 'public body officers' which in Section 3 of the act are interpreted as any individual who is a member, officer, employee or anyone who serves a public body, and they include members of the administration, MPs, member of a state legislative assembly, High Court judge, Court of Appeal judge, or Federal Court judge, and anyone who receives a salary from a public body...," the statement added. - mk

MACC chief Azam Baki...

Sadly MACC has no power to investigate his own chief...- Bornean

MACC is quick to respond on the obvious that is their powers. Why come forward and overzealously beat your chest and declare your powers when you choose to remain silent on the blogger nor the complainants. They should have first investigated on them to check the authenticity of their reports/complaints before hurriedly opening an investigation on the judge. Surely its common sense to ascertain that these claims are frivolous first before touching the judge, who has been thoroughly vetted and cleared before his appointment. My question is this. If, after investigations by MACC, it had been proven that these complainants had made frivolous or politically motivated reports to MACC are they going to be charged by MACC? I am sure MACC is well versed on this. Is this not the preferred course of action ie exercising due care and caution when opening an investigation on the judiciary, which has an impeccable and unquestionable reputation? - GanMu

The MACC investigation was based on a dodgy news report by an internationally renowned scoundrel based on extracts of confidential bank documents dated many years ago. Totally unrelated to the judge's work.Even an amateur could have seen that these were cooked up reports. Yet this news report was used by an NGO to demand the arrest of the Judge. And with that MACC sprang into action.And issued a statement that the judge was being investigated. And based on the statement by MACC, Shafee is now demanding a mistrial. All this seems to have happened because there was the smell of corruption involving Azam Baki. All this looks like a smokescreen to confuse anyone demanding Azam Baki be investigated. But who can rein in the head honcho of MACC? Rais Yatim must restate his order once more ... Azam Baki MUST be suspended. Let the MACC number 2 take over. While Azam Baki is investigated. - Anon25

Kuasa menyiasat SPRM merangkumi semua pegawai awam, kecuali KP SPRM. Dia ni spesial skit. Boleh tolak perintah Parlimen yang minta kehadiran nya. Tulis surat penjelasan dah cukup. Tapi surat tak pulak di bentangkan kat Dewan Rakyat. Memang .. Azam Baki ni spesial .. kaan! - Sharifuddin Abdul Latiff

Oh ada kuasa siasat hakim, tapi tak ada kuasa siasat boss SPRM. Siapa lah nak percayakan hampa lagi??? - Mujaheed

cheers.

Level Menteri lebai tebuk atap yang gagal...

Tiba2 lebai nak nyanyi lagu keramat parti UMNO semula...

Kononnya fitnah sana sini, tapi wang yg dituduh sudah banyak dikembalikan termasuk oleh anak tirinya dan oleh artis hollywood serta  oleh goldman sachs. Mengapa pulangkan jika sudah kata ianya fitnah. Najib gagal buktikan apa satu pun tohmahan di mahkamah. Dia hanya pandai berkokok di dalam FB.- Pak Lang Mat

Najib says aggrieved by 'serious error'

N

How UMNO leaders destroy 

the currency in the last 25 years...

When Muhyiddin Yassin betrayed the democratically elected Pakatan Harapan and took over as Malaysia’s first backdoor prime minister on Mar 1, 2020, the local currency – Ringgit – plunged from 4.17 to 4.44 within days. It was as bad as during Najib Razak government, during which Ringgit hit a low of 4.50 as the country plagued with 1MDB scandal.

In fact, ever since the 1MDB corruption and money laundering scheme was exposed, the country’s currency has never appreciated to below 3 Ringgit to a dollar, the same way it has failed to go back to RM2.5 to the greenback after the 1997-98 Asia Financial Crisis during the administration of Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled for 22 years (1981 to 2003).

Since August 2015 at the peak of 1MDB scandal, Ringgit has effectively lost its value, trading more than RM3.80 to a US dollar and hasn’t looked back, even though then-PM Najib implemented the Goods and Services Tax (GST) effective April 1, 2015. The extra revenue from GST, averaging RM43 billion a year, wasn’t enough to impress the currency market.

Muhyiddin regime did not last long, and the traitor suffered a humiliating exit when he was toppled by the same group of corrupt and power-crazy lawmakers from the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) who had agreed to appoint Muhyiddin as the prime minister 17 months earlier. He reluctantly resigned on August 16, 2021 and was replaced by Ismail Sabri.

And since the unelected Ismail Sabri government took over the country in August last year, the Ringgit has again tumbled from 4.13 to Monday’s exchange rate of 4.36. In essence, the Malaysian currency has increasingly become worthless in the last 25 years. During the peak of the Asia Financial Crisis, the Ringgit fell to the jaw-dropping low of 4.9 to a dollar in January 1998.

Mahathir could easily blame currency speculators like George Soros for the depreciation of local currency. However, since the 1997 Asia Financial Crisis, the Ringgit has lost a whopping 75% of its value. Thailand, the first country under attack by speculators, has seen the Baht recovered substantially – losing just 49.2% of its value over the period of 25 years since January 1997.

RM Currency Exchange - Dollar, Pound, Euro, Renminbi, Yen

South Korea, another country badly hit during the same financial crisis saw its currency – “Won” – depreciated by up to 95% against the U.S. dollar at one point. Unlike Malaysia’s move to peg the Ringgit to the dollar at 3.80 in September 1998, South Korean creditors were bailed out by the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Today, the Won has lost 48.5% since 1997.

The only currency in the Southeast Asia that enjoys appreciation is the Singapore dollar, which has actually gained 2.4% since the 1997-98 Asia Financial Crisis. Of course, Malaysia can take comfort that Indonesia Rupiah was the worst performer, having lost a whopping 398% of its value for the past 25 years. But Indonesia was never one of the Asian tigers to begin with.

Najib probably would like to blame mentor-turn-nemesis Mahathir, the Wall Street Journals, Jews, U.S. Justice Department, the CIA or even his partner-in-crime Jho Low for the 1MDB scandal, which in turn has destroyed the local currency. Likewise, power-crazy Muhyiddin may blame the Coronavirus, despite his own economic mismanagement and Covid-19 mishandling.

Besides 1MDB scandal, Mr Najib could also blame the lower value of oil for the Ringgit losing its shine because the commodity is one of Malaysia’s main exports. Mr Muhyiddin could similarly blame the cheap oil during the pandemic as the world was on lockdown and did not need oil. Still, both had squeezed special dividends from Petronas, the national oil company, to make ends meet.

But what excuse PM Ismail Sabri, vice president of UMNO, can use for the weakening Ringgit against the US dollar? He can’t point fingers at Covid-19 because the pandemic has become an endemic, and the economy and borders have reopened to pre-pandemic level. In the last 9 months, the country is being run by UMNO-led Barisan Nasional government.

He similarly can’t blame Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul, Minister of International Trade and Industry Azmin Ali, Economic Minister Mustapa Mohamed or any of the bloated Cabinet of 73 ministers and deputy ministers because it was PM Sabri himself who had chosen to retain the same useless and incompetent Cabinet. Can the turtle-egg man blame the U.S. Federal Reserve?

Finance Minister Zafrul - Worst Since 198, 

Fitch Downgrade, FDI and GDP Drop

The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell may have dented market sentiment when he said during an International Monetary Fund panel that taming inflation is “absolutely essential” and a 50 basis point hike is on the table in May. It came after the U.S. inflation rate accelerated to 8.5% in March, after hitting 7.5% in January and 7.9% in February – the highest in 40 years.

However, it that’s true, Sabri government cannot explain why the Ringgit is the worst currency when compared to regional currencies like Singapore Dollar, Indonesia Rupiah, Philippines Peso and Thai Baht. If the U.S. interest rate hike is a major culprit, why does it affect Malaysia’s currency more than neighbours in the Southeast Asia over the last one month?

The PM cannot blame oil like Najib or Muhyiddin because despite crude oil prices remained above US$100 a barrel, the Ringgit dropped to its lowest level in almost 2 years. Worse, instead of appreciating against the greenback when the crude oil prices go up, as it usually did, the local currency seems to have diverged or broke away from the crude oil trend in recent months.

Embarrassingly, the Ringgit also traded lower against regional currencies. For the past month, it weakened against not only the mighty Singapore Dollar, but also Indonesia Rupiah and Thai Baht. It only performs better than the Philippines Peso. This could only mean one thing – Malaysia economy isn’t as rosy as the government was trumpeting, to put it mildly.

Malaysia’s Finance Ministry said the depreciation of the Ringgit will be cushioned by the country’s strong external position and robust fundamentals. That’s a truckload of technical bullshit because it failed to explain why the local currency performs worse than other currencies. The US dollar is gaining strength due to expectation that the US Federal Reserve will accelerate its interest hike.

When the Federal Reserve increases the interest rate, the higher yields attract investment capital from investors abroad seeking higher returns on bonds or interest-rate products. Unless Malaysian Central Bank (Bank Negara) follows with a similar rate hike, investors will dump Ringgit in exchange for the “more valuable” US dollar, leading to plunging Ringgit.

However, even as recent as last month, the Bank Negara had to maintain its interest rate at a historic low (1.75%) as it was still awaiting signs of a more sustained economic. If it increases interest rate, it will have a huge impact on deposit rates, lending rates as well as home loan interest rates. Meaning, without cheap money supply, local businesses and people with debts will be in trouble.

This Minister wants Malaysia to print more Ringgit

The central bank will be forced to raise interest rates eventually to fight inflation, which is contributed by an increase in global cost. Sure, Malaysia can subsidize fuel or petrol, but it doesn’t produce fertilizer or wheat or other raw materials, not to mention the labour shortage situation. All these will trigger a rise in goods prices, hence the inflation (which the authorities claim to be only 2.2%).

Besides a weaker economy, another reason why regional currencies are stronger than Ringgit is because the Malaysian government has been quietly printing money. While this provides liquidity to the domestic market, it devalues the currency. For example, to allow EPF premature withdrawals without selling assets to raise hundreds of billions of Ringgit, they simply print more money.

It certainly didn’t help to instil investor confidence when the debt level is being consistently raised. During the 2008-09 Great Recession, the Najib administration raised the debt ceiling from 45% to 55% in July 2009. The backdoor Muhyiddin regime then raised it from 55% to 60% in August 2020 under the pretext to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the clueless and incompetent Ismail Sabri government, the statutory debt ceiling was raised again in September 2021 from 60% to 65% of gross domestic product (GDP). It’s one thing to raise money through debt to grow the economy. But when the economy isn’t growing because the money have either gone into wasteful projects or simply disappeared through corruption, the currency will take a beating.

The international reserves of Bank Negara Malaysia amounted to US$115.6 billion as at 31 March 2022. That looks like a lot of money. But how many knew that Malaysia could not rebuild even 50% of its foreign reserves since its fall from USD128.2 billion in mid-May 2013 to USD85.2 billion in mid-September 2015 (thanks to 1MDB scandal) on one of the greatest Ringgit slides since the 1997-08 Asian Financial Crisis.

Some might argue that a weak currency is good for an export country like Malaysia. It’s a double-edged sword – a weak currency has weak purchasing power, translating to serious negative economic consequences like the rising cost of living. Besides, can the country still compete with China, Vietnam or even the Philippines in the game of low cost production and manufacturing?

In a nutshell, Malaysia’s economy is incredibly screwed up. The ongoing brain drain in the country coupled with lower foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows compared to neighbouring countries, as well as lower investment outflows, means Malaysia is no longer the preferred FDI destination in the region (meaning less interest in Ringgit). Malaysia is losing traction because its policies are driving away investments. - FT

cheers.

Pasai apa SPRM siasat Nazlan, bukan Azam Baki?...

 

Pengerusi DAP Lim Guan Eng mempersoalkan tindakan Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) tidak membuka kertas siasatan terhadap ketua pesuruhjayanya, Azam Baki kerana didakwa melanggar undang-undang dalam pembelian saham.

Sebaliknya katanya, Azam mengesahkan SPRM telah membuka kertas siasatan terhadap Hakim Mahkamah Rayuan, Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

"Mengapa SPRM gagal membuka serta-merta kertas siasatan ke atas Azam Baki kerana melanggar undang-undang dalam pembelian berjuta-juta saham bernilai jutaan ringgit?" katanya dalam kenyataan media, hari ini.

Terdahulu SPRM dilaporkan mengesahkan kertas siasatan terhadap Nazlan dibuka susulan menerima laporan mengenai artikel yang disiarkan di blog Malaysia Today milik Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

Artikel itu mendakwa hakim berkenaan mempunyai “kekayaan yang tidak dapat dijelaskan”. Nazlan membuat laporan polis berhubung artikel berkenaan pada 21 April lalu. Baca seterusnya di sini...

KL was hit by flash floods following continuous heavy rain earlier this afternoon, causing massive jams across the Klang Valley.Flooding was reported in Jalan Kuching, Jalan Tunku Abdul Halim, and Jalan Semantan among others...

Why open investigation paper 

on judge, but not Azam Baki?...

DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng is questioning why the MACC failed to immediately open an investigation paper into its own chief over a proxy stock trading scandal when it was quick to do so in the case of Court of Appeal judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

"Following MACC chief commissioner Azam’s confirmation that MACC has opened an investigation paper into Nazlan, the question that is being asked - why did MACC fail to immediately open an investigation paper on Azam Baki for (allegedly) breaching the law in purchasing millions of shares?” said Lim who is also Bagan MP in a statement today.

He also asked why the source of the speculation over Nazlan was not being investigated. "Azam explained that the probe was part of MACC’s procedure to investigate whenever a report is lodged.

“Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin's (RPK) portal Malaysia Today had accused Nazlan of having "unexplained wealth".

"Why is there no criminal investigation into RPK’s allegations, which have consistently been proven to be false and baseless?" asked Lim.

Investigate RPK

He said that even though RPK is in exile in London, he should be asked to return to subject himself to an investigation. "If RPK refuses to return and if there are sufficient grounds for criminal charges to be filed, then RPK should be extradited," added Lim.

Malaysia Today has accused Nazlan of having "unexplained wealth". Nazlan has lodged a police report over the article.

Previously, another allegation was circulated claiming that Nazlan was a relative of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir's daughter Marina said the family would be flattered if a learned judge was their relative but confirmed that Nazlan was not.

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's legal team have also tried to discredit Nazlan by claiming that he had a conflict of interest in the 1MDB case.

When Nazlan was a High Court judge in 2020, he sentenced Najib to 12 years in prison and RM210 million for corruption, abuse of power and money laundering. The Court of Appeal upheld the decision last year. Najib is appealing the case in Federal Court.

Azam, meanwhile, drew criticism over his ownership of 1,930,000 shares in Gets Global Berhad (previously KBES Berhad) on April 30, 2015, worth around RM772,000 at the time.

Azam claimed the shares were not his but were purchased by his brother in his name, prompting the Securities Commission (SC) to look into possible misuse of his trading account. "The SC found there was ‘no conclusive evidence’ that Azam (above) had breached the Securities Industry (Central Depositories) Act 1991 (Sicda). - LGE,mk

With the iron-clad corruption evidence against him, Malaysia’s chief graft buster Azam baki should have been convicted and punished long ago, instead, he is now at large to launch a dubious probe against Judge Nazlan Ghazalie based on a corruption accusation by notorious mercenary blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin who habitually makes false and malicious allegations.

That this is a vicious political move is evident from the fact that Nazlan is the much-acclaimed judge who convicted former PM Najib Razak who is criminally involved in the 1MDB infamy often referred to as the world’s largest heist of government funds.

What kind of a topsy-turvy government Malaysia has when its openly corrupted anti-corruption chief roams free to inflict damage against a judge universally acclaimed for his integrity and courage? Is there a future for such a country whose system of governance rewards the bad and punishes the good? - Kim Quek

The difference is Azam is a low life takde maruah Malay criminal while Judge Nazlan is an honorable and a well respected Malay professional. - All things considered

Don't you find it odd that RPK alleged on 20th April that Nazlan is being investigated while Azam Baki stated the MACC open investigation papers on 23rd April? Even though Azam Baki claimed the investigation is based on local reports made on the matter, how do one reconcile the fact that RPK somehow had prior knowledge of it happening?There are hidden hands on this issue, and we know what they are trying to achieve with this false flag manoeuvre. - Sharifuddin Abdul Latiff

Is it pay-back time for Azam Baki to his political masters? The report was lodged against RPK but MACC has chosen to remain silent on who is being investigated that gives a political twist to the issue as if Mohd Nazlan is being investigated for corruption. That is the general perception from MACC's curt statement. But the bigger question is whether MACC has the credibility to investigate the judge when foremost in the people's mind is when is MACC going to investigate its own honcho with alleged evidence of corruption? Why is this obvious case of Azam Baki being covered up? Isn't it a conflict of interest for Azam Baki to be investigating corruption allegations against the judge that too by the notorious mercenary blogger who habitually makes false and malicious allegations? Can we have some clarification from the PM on who is being investigated any by whom? - Way to go

Nazlan having $1m ringgit in his account is nothing unusual as he was previously the Group General Manager and chief legal counsel of Maybank. His total remuneration would have been in the circa of $360,000 to $500,000 per annum. On the other hand, for a career government officer to have $5,000,000 in his stock trading account is nothing short of fishy. - BrownCheetah 9736

The MACC Commissioner Azam Baki has a closet full of misdemeanor shenanigans reports of the 3 corrupted parties of UMNO, PAS and BERSATU!! Takut takut nanti rahsia terbongkar. So, Azam is holding them to their b*l*s!!! Welcome to Malaysia where thieves roam free and the authorities chose to keep an eye closed.Any report on DAP.....speedy gonzalez investigation!!! - Ketuk Ketampi

cheers.

Beruk di parlimen, penyangak di istana...

Sebelum ini heboh cerita lukisan beruk dan monyet di dalam Parlimen yang mana lukisannya dibeli oleh seorang Sultan. Selepas itu seorang aktivis dan penggiat seni ditahan dengan menggambarkan pakaian Sultan dengan seekor monyet. Hari ini heboh pula di media sosial, apa halnya kedudukan seorang penyangak negara berada bersama pembesar negara? Ia jadi pertikaian di kalangan rakyat.Bagaimana seorang penyangak yang dibuktikan menyeleweng dana rakyat dimuliakan dalam Istana. Sudah pasti yang salah itu kerajaan yang mengatur majlis lalu mencemarkan Istana, bukan Istana. Istana tempat dan institusi yang patut dihormati. - ipohmali

Kalu 10k, zakatnya RM250...

The rush to put Najib & Zahid in 

prison might be too little too late...

After being cancelled for two years consecutively in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic, the question remains whether the PT3 (Form Three Assessment) examination will resume this year. Earlier, a statement had been posted – later deleted – on the Malaysian Examination Board Facebook, saying the PT3 exam for the 2022 session would be held from October to November.

So far, however, the clueless Education Minister Radzi Jidin has not offered any solution, let alone leadership, on a problem as simple as whether the exam should go ahead or not. The month of May is just a week away, yet thousands of secondary schools and hundreds of thousands of confused Form-3 students, not to mention frustrated teachers, are being kept in the dark.

 

Mr Radzi could only say that his ministry has yet to decide on the PT3, primarily because it was still looking into the most suitable approach to the exam. In short, the education ministry has no idea of the level of mastery of students after almost two years of online learning. Actually, the solution is simple – lower the passing mark, and celebrate the best PT3 results in history.

After all, it was Radzi leadership that the country saw Form-5 students scored the best results in their 2020 SPM examination – the only country where exam results improved spectacularly despite lockdown and online study. On a serious note, if the students are not ready to sit for PT3 exam this year, what makes Radzi thinks they can proceed to Form-4 and Form-5 for SPM?

Did Radzi just admit that a generation of students have lost at least 2 years of formal education because they lacked affordable devices, competent teachers, reliable connectivity and equal access to online classes? Alternatively, the education minister can scrap PT3 exam permanently, the same way UPSR exam for primary six students had been terminated – a lazy way to solve problems.

The main factor the government cannot decide on the date of PT3 examination is because it is unsure which month lame duck Prime Minister Ismail Sabri will call for a snap election this year. If the current unelected government suddenly dissolves the Parliament, it will disrupt PT3 preparation as classrooms reserved for the exam have to be converted as polling stations.

Yes, despite opposition Pakatan Harapan’s repetitive insistence that its MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Sabri’s fragile government can be extended beyond July 31 to allow it to continue running the government, the writing is on the wall that the prime minister is too weak to fight the pressure to hold an early election, which most likely will shift to top gear after the Hari Raya festivities.

 

PT3 Form Three Assessment Examination

About a week ago, despite the Opposition seemingly begging for the government not to dissolve the parliament till next year, PM Sabri said he would abide by the decision made by his party United Malays National Organization (UMNO) Supreme Council not to extend the MOU. This means the turtle-egg man could only drag till August before he meets King Sultan Abdullah.

 

If the Agong (King) agrees with the PM’s advice, the Parliament will be dissolved and within sixty (60) days from the date of its dissolution, a General Election has to be held to elect representatives to the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat). This also means the polling date would fall in October, the same month that PT3 examination should begin.

The question whether Mr Sabri should go against his own party’s wish, which is actually being controlled by the Court Cluster (in reference to several UMNO leaders facing graft charges in court, including convicted-former Prime Minister Najib Razak and UMNO president Zahid Hamidi), has been put to rest after UMNO agreed to name Ismail Sabri as the next PM.

Of course, it was a cheap ploy to trick simpleton Sabri, vice-president of UMNO, into believing that he will return as the country’s most powerful man after the next election. It’s the same gimmick played out in Johor, where Hasni Mohammad was paraded as the candidate for Chief Minister, only to see Onn Hafiz Ghazi appointed as the Johor Chief Minister instead.

But Sabri is too dumb to realize that he is being played like a bloody fool. The next premier will be anyone but him. Even if he knew it was a trap, he has no choice but to walk into it because to go against his own party will provide an excuse for Najib and Zahid to topple him by pulling out their support, the same way former backdoor PM Muhyiddin Yassin lost his power in Aug 2021.

To name Sabri as the poster boy would not only stop speculations that Najib or Zahid could become the next PM, serving as bait to attract gullible voters, but also to check-mate Sabri, giving him zero excuse not to dissolve the parliament. With Najib as UMNO de-facto leader, the serial liar can certainly cook one million reasons not to make Sabri prime minister after UMNO wins.

How do we know that the new prime minister is definitely not Ismail Sabri, but could be either Najib or Zahid or even their proxy? That’s because pro-Najib bloggers, propagandists and cyber troopers has started attacking UMNO deputy president, Mohamad Hasan, accusing him of corruption. Popularly known as Tok Mat, the UMNO No. 2 was considered clean by UMNO standard.

 

Mohamad Hasan, Hishammuddin Hussein,Ismail Sabri 

By eliminating Mohamad Hasan from the popularity contest, the party will run out of credible prime ministerial candidate. With his threat out of the picture, Zahid hopes the UMNO Supreme Council will then have to accept him as the next PM. Even though Ismail Sabri will also benefit with the elimination of Tok Mat, he is too weak and too coward to pick a fight with Zahid.

It’s worth noting that Sabri had previously gone rogue when he fiercely supported Muhyiddin Yassin, the president of Bersatu, rather than his own party’s president. Sabri was the third choice as PM behind party president Zahid Hamidi and deputy president Mohamad Hasan after Muhyiddin was toppled. Zahid pulled out due to his corruption trials, while Tok Mat was not a Member of Parliament.

That was how Sabri got the job in the first place. After UMNO wins the next election, there is no reason for Zahid or Najib to support him. He will be the shortest serving prime minister, shorter than Muhyiddin’s 17-month-rule as the country’s first backdoor and illegitimate prime minister. Worse, the clueless and incompetent Sabri has very weak grassroots support within the party.

The only option to ensure neither Najib nor Zahid can become the next PM is to send them to prison before the election. That explains the secret meetings among the top leadership of Perikatan Nasional coalition – consisting of Bersatu (Malaysian United Indigenous Party) and PAS (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party) – to disrupt the current UMNO leadership in order to stop the crooks from taking over the country.

On Sunday, documents believed to be minutes of Perikatan Nasional meetings were leaked on social media. It contained discussions involving PAS vice-president Samsuri Mokhtar, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, Bersatu Azmin Ali, Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin and several other party leaders on March 24 and March 27, as well as on April 4 and April 7.

Interestingly, even opposition Pejuang (Parti Pejuang Tanah Air) chairman Mahathir Mohamad and Barisan Nasional treasurer-general Hishammuddin Hussein (cousin of Najib) were involved in the highly explosive plot against the top UMNO leaders. The plan apparently is to expedite the sentences of UMNO Court Cluster namely Najib Razak and Zahid Hamidi.

The leaked documents also suggested that in exchange for Najib and Zahid to be excluded from holding any power within UMNO, both crooks are being promised with pardons. The most puzzling part of the plan was to make Hishammuddin as UMNO president, despite the fact that he was the first leader who ran away from his own party after the stunning lost in the 2018 General Election.

If the plan goes according to the script, Hishammuddin, who chicken out from contesting any post in UMNO to save himself from possible corruption charges during the previous Pakatan Harapan administration, could be the next premier. Mahathir and Muhyiddin can accept Hishammuddin, known for brandishing a “Keris” (Malay dagger) and threatened minorities Chinese and Indians, as the next PM.

Najib Razak, Ismail Sabri and Agong 

A photo of a convicted criminal – Najib Razak – invited to the Palace for a special dinner during Ramadan on April 18 has raised eyebrows over the real possibility that the King, known for his close relationship with Najib, is ready to grant a royal pardon to the crook as part of the power play. The monarch should not have invited Najib as it creates a perception that the King welcomes corruption.

Not only Najib was invited to dine and wine with the Agong (King), the crook was seated at the high table alongside PM Ismail Sabri, who in turn seated next to the monarch. Exactly what type of message the Sultanate of Pahang is sending to the people and the world? Not even Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin or PAS president Hadi Awang enjoyed such royal privilege.

The dinner is yet another sign that Najib could be the PM-in-waiting. Puppet Sabri is just warming up the seat till the next national poll. Crucially, it also sends a powerful and disturbing signal to the judiciary that the world’s biggest crook should be “treated like a royalty”, especially at a time when the Federal Court is about to decide the fate of the former prime minister.

However, even if Najib and Zahid are promised royal pardons, there is no guarantee that it will happen immediately, not to mention they would need to spend some time in prison while waiting to be pardoned. Najib, for example, has already been convicted and sentenced to 12 years in jail, but is appealing at Federal Court after the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s conviction.

If the plot is true, it means the Federal Court is expected to also find Najib guilty – in line with both the High Court and the Court of Appeal’s decisions because for the Federal Court to do otherwise, the question of a royal pardon does not arise. Does this mean Muhyiddin, Mahathir and Hadi knew that a royal pardon is cooking, therefore tries to at least disrupt the crowning of Najib or Zahid as PM?

Comically, it was only after Mahathir and Muhyiddin had lost power that both former prime ministers are eager to expedite the corruption cases. When both were in power, they were happily dragging their feet. When Mahathir was the PM, he claimed he did not want to interfere with the judiciary, whereas Muhyiddin kept his mouth shut as his fragile regime depended on Najib and Zahid’s votes to stay in power.

However, it’s possible that the entire conspiracy story has been cooked up by Najib’s boys to seek sympathy, creating a false narrative that everyone, including the Attorney General Idrus Harun and the Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, was plotting against him. Already, Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, the High Court judge who heard and convicted Najib, is being accused of corruption by Najib spin doctors.

Even if the plan to expedite the court cases is true, very few will feel sorry for the crooks, especially Najib, who should be serving his time in prison, not walking around and enjoying himself like a celebrity. The plot is yet another episode of Malay leaders fighting each other for power. Like it or not, it’s rather too little too late to put Najib in jail, especially if the King is supportive of the crook. - FT

cheers.

Tauke lembu scam kalah saman lagi...

Story SINI dan SINI...

Rafizi disaman oleh NFC dan pengerusinya Mohamad Salleh Ismail berhubung dakwaan entiti tersebut menyalahgunakan dana kerajaan. Dalam penghakiman hari ini, Hakim Besar Malaya Azahar Mohamed berkata Rafizi berjaya membangkitkan pembelaan yang adil sekali gus mengetepikan saman berkenaan. Sehubungan itu panel hakim Mahkamah Persekutuan sebulat suara membatalkan rayuan NFC dan Salleh terhadap penolakan saman fitnah mereka terhadap Rafizi. - mk

Cuckoo telah dikambing hitamkan pula dah.

Cuckoo tu ada cop SIRIM atau cop HAUK?...

Harapan, small is beautiful...

If we go back to very recent history, look at what happened and examine the list of parties who want to come into Pakatan Harapan under the “big tent” approach to “unite” all opposition parties, you can’t help but ditch it in favour of that small tent which just sticks to the three - PKR, DAP and Amanah.

First, what eventually led to the collapse of the Harapan government after it won convincingly in the last elections in May 2018? It was allowing a racist, narrow-minded self-interested party into the coalition by the name of Bersatu which restricts its membership to Malays only.

It was led by two very dubious people – Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin - whose track record amply showed that they could not be trusted but yet they were let in because some people, including some PKR and DAP top leaders, felt that was the only way to win the election.

I wrote here why Mahathir could not be trusted in an article in April 2017 after his party Bersatu was admitted into the Harapan coalition. I still remain totally flummoxed as to why he was allowed into this reform bid in the first place given his extremely poor track record.

Mahathir (below) refused to set a date to pass the baton to Harapan head Anwar Ibrahim, and the Sheraton Move happened - Bersatu abdicated, taking 36 MPs, along with PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali who took a further 10 PKR MPs. The Harapan government collapsed because of the three traitors.

That should be more than enough evidence to show that you have to be careful who you bring in to help you win the elections. Mahathir’s Bersatu won just 13 seats in the last elections, immediately after which PKR had almost four times the seats at 47 and DAP 42. It would have gotten less if it had not been in the Harapan coalition.

Mahathir and Bersatu did not win the election for the coalition, other members of whom won the lion’s share. But they were hailed as victors and did not do as promised. The promise to a nation was hijacked by a mere 13 MPs! That was the fatal folly of the three original coalition partners of PKR, DAP and Amanah when they let the Trojan horse in and eventually lost the war.

Foolish fatal folly

Question is, are they going to repeat this foolish, fatal folly yet again by aligning with dubious, irreputable partners who will play them yet again? Or are the three prepared to stand and fight as one, believing in their own ability to prevail?

Let’s look at the other opposition parties and what they really have to offer to Harapan. The four main ones we look at are Mahathir’s Pejuang, Muhyiddin’s Bersatu, Syed Saddiq Syed Syed Abdul Rahman’s Muda and Mohd Shafie Apdal’s Warisan. There can be other electoral alliances in Sabah and Sarawak.

If any of these party leaders have prime ministerial aspirations, that should immediately rule them out of the coalition - Pejuang, Bersatu and Warisan should be included. Harapan should unconditionally support only those who support its own candidate for prime minister which is Anwar Ibrahim, who recently was returned unopposed as PKR head.

Can anyone really be advocating Mahathir, who was the main cause of Harapan’s downfall? In any case, what can Pejuang bring to the table? All of their candidates lost their deposits in the Johor by-elections, showing Mahathir’s waning support.

Let’s take Bersatu - there may be possible synergies as they were a significant force in Johor. But Muhyiddin is the head, has PM aspirations and the party is full of defectors. They will defect again for the right price, power and privilege if given an opportunity. Harapan will be foolish to ally with them.

Nothing to offer

Shafie Apdal makes no secret of his aspirations to become PM and has nothing to offer in terms of support - all six Warisan candidates lost their deposits in the Johor by-elections. He has constantly put Harapan down, treating with disdain but not always with reason Harapan’s MOU with the government to stabilise the political situation.

There is absolutely no reason for Harapan to team up with Warisan which brings nothing to the table but Shafie Apdal’s ridiculous aspirations to become prime minister.

Muda has a lot of appeal and has hit people in the right spot by its multiracialism, anti-corruption stand and appeal to the youth. Just like Shafie, Muda’s Syed Saddiq has high aspirations as I explained here which strangely involves some kind of alliance with Warisan.

In this case, the Shafie Apdal/Syed Saddiq axis appears to be one of the “you-scratch-my-back-I-will-scratch your back” type, one to become prime minister and the other to leapfrog his ambitions for eventually becoming one.

But Syed Saddiq is a Mahathir protege, which in itself is a bad thing, plus he admits his continued closeness to the old fox. He has made about turns in terms of the Indian Muslim radical cleric Zakir Naik. And he had suspicious amounts of cash to the tune of RM250,000 in his house as I explained here.

Oh, one more thing - all of Harapan’s three parties have always opened their membership to all races and it is the grouping which promises the greatest amount of multiracialism. So it needs no new converts to multiracialism such as Syed Saddiq and Shafie Apdal, and their parties.

Harapan, if it has not already done it, must inscribe on its holy grail that no party whose leaders have a bad track record should be admitted into the coalition, notwithstanding what Amanah president Mohamad Sabu says that he will seek friends with other members of the opposition.

Former DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said pretty much the same thing earlier although his recent successor, Anthony Loke, according to Anwar, seems to be leaning towards a smaller tent.

Hang on Harapan’s coattails

After carefully looking at the entire situation, there is no question about it. Just like Mahathir, the other four parties want to hang on to Harapan’s coattails to get into power. And when they get in, just like Mahathir and Muhyiddin, they will entice others in PKR to cross over to kill this government if it wins.

Harapan does not only need to just keep these useless fringe parties out and say firmly that it wants to strengthen itself from within. But it needs to ensure that it gets good candidates who will not jump ship no matter what. That’s a tough act but anyone with even a whiff of a bad record must be out - individual or party.

Which makes all the four likely candidates to be in the coalition terribly ineligible. Just stick to the original three - not only do you have a better chance of winning but you have a better chance of staying in power after winning once you eliminate the frogs.

Small is beautiful, Harapan. The best way for Harapan to stay in the battle for GE15 is to go for it on its own and stay on the straight and narrow - clean, efficient and trustworthy. Now, where have we heard that before? - P.Gunasegaram,mk

cheers.

Bila geng rasuah rela juai Malaysia & tutup mata sebelah...

 

Seramai 528 tahanan etnik Rohingya meloloskan diri dari Depot Tahanan Imigresen Sungai Bakap, Pulau Pinang awal pagi ini dan enam daripada mereka maut dilanggar kenderaan semasa melintasi jalan di Kilometer 168 Lebuh Raya Utara Selatan (PLUS) berhampiran kawasan Jawi, Nibong Tebal. Seramai 351 pelarian berjaya ditahan semula dan polis melancarkan gerakan mencari mereka yang masih lolos. - mk

Testimoni dari seorang Bangla,kata polis Malaysia 

sangat baik bagi duit kopi dah boleh lepas...

'Big Tent' strategy a misreading 

of election history...

It has taken the Malaysian opposition seven straight election defeats (in four by-elections and three state elections) to realise they have a problem. For the first time since the acrimonious backdoor coup of the “Sheraton Move” in February 2020, all the opposition parties have openly stated their wish to work together, through a coalition, electoral pact, or other arrangements, under one “Big Tent”.

In March 2022, Bersatu president and former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin started holding meetings with Pejuang, the small party led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and PKR, the de facto leader of the largest opposition bloc, Pakatan Harapan.

The other component parties of Harapan, Amanah and DAP, had also talked about a “Big Tent” approach to unite all opposition parties to defeat the incumbent BN that has seemingly regained its dominance.

The “Big Tent” strategy relies on a simple political concept: that the root cause of any incumbent’s electoral success is a disunited opposition. To defeat longstanding powerful regimes, like the stunning successes in Kenya in 2002, Ukraine in 2004, India in 2014, and Mexico in 2000, the opposition must work together.

A 2019 study by political scientists Ostwald, Shuller and Chong called this the “opposition split hypothesis”. A high number of opposition parties contesting in an election would split the opposition votes, thus making it easier for the incumbent (like BN in Malaysia) to clinch a victory with lower winning thresholds.

Using the recent 2022 Johor state election as an example, if the opposition had used a “Big Tent” strategy, it would have saved seats like Kota Iskandar. The Harapan candidate, Dzulkefly Ahmad, had won by a commanding majority of 14,543 votes nearly 4 years ago, but the result in 2022 was vastly different:

This poor showing in 2022 makes the argument for an opposition “Big Tent” irresistible. Combining all the non-BN votes would have allowed the opposition to win the seat by 10,448 votes in a one-on-one contest. If the opposition had used this strategy for the rest of the seats, it would have gained another 19 seats, denying BN its landslide victory.

GE14 a poor ‘Big Tent’ example

Every opposition leader who mentioned the “Big Tent” concept pointed to the historic opposition victory in GE14 that ended BN’s 61-year hegemony. They claimed that Harapan won because it was willing to work with its arch-enemy, Mahathir, then the chairperson of Bersatu, and Mohd Shafie Apdal, from Sabah-based Warisan.

The only problem, however, is that GE14 is a poor example of how to succeed using a “Big Tent” strategy. GE14 was Malaysia’s most competitive election, where the largest coalitions had nationwide three-cornered fights. It was also an election where the Malay votes, representing the majority of the electorate, were split in three ways, with each coalition gaining a vote-share between 25 to 40 percent.

If the opposition split hypothesis held true, BN would have won handsomely in GE14 and Harapan would not have ushered in Malaysia’s first power turnover. GE14 showed that there were other ways for votes to be split.

To illustrate this, let us take one imagined constituency of 100 votes with a three-cornered fight between BN, Perikatan Nasional (PN), and Harapan, with PN as the newly introduced third party:

Scenario A is the classic opposition split scenario where a third party, PN, would split Harapan’s votes, thus making BN’s victory a virtual certainty. However, this assumes that BN’s voters are a monolithic bloc when, in fact, they likely are on a spectrum from borderline-BN supporters to hardcore-BN supporters.

Scenarios B and C are more realistic. In Scenario B, where PN absorbs votes from both BN and Harapan, the latter two still stand a chance to win on a thin majority depending on how many votes PN absorbs. In Scenario C, where PN splits only BN’s votes, this secures a Harapan victory.

‘Big Tent’ the last thing Harapan should do

In GE14, something akin to Scenario C happened. PAS absorbed the weak BN supporters’ votes dramatically because of the perceived Umno-PAS similarities in their Malay-Muslim credentials (with Umno as leader of BN) and public resentment against Najib’s corruption allegations.

Instead of taking votes away from Harapan, PAS took rural, conservative Malay votes from BN. On top of that, Harapan maximised the support from its voter base of urban non-Malays. In this way, a partial split instead of a full opposition split was the principal cause for BN’s surprise defeat in GE14.

The best representation of a “Big Tent” approach was actually GE13 and not GE14, where the opposition formed an unlikely alliance of PKR, DAP, and PAS: Pakatan Rakyat (PR). This set up a nationwide straight fight.

If the opposition split hypothesis held, PR should have walked away with at least 107 seats, or 189 seats in the best-case scenario. Instead, they won only 89 seats - 23 seats shy of taking government.

To win, Harapn should maintain a professional distance from a coalition like PN, because the latter’s ability to split BN’s votes is favourable to Harapan. Joining forces under a “Big Tent” is the last thing it should do.

In Malaysia, the opposition split hypothesis does not hold, making the opposition’s calls for a “Big Tent” strategy a misplaced fantasy. - James Chai,mk

We Are Better Than Them!...

Within the Opposition are the leaders who should lead our Nation. And by leading the Nation, I do not just mean there is a Prime Minister in waiting within the ranks of the Opposition. In fact, there are already a number of able, capable and qualified wannabe Prime Minister waiting to put their hands up should the post of PM becomes vacant after BN’s defeat at PRU15. Hell, at least two of them are ex Prime Ministers! Who shall be PM will be chosen from one of them by common consensus. So let us not worry our selves too much about who should, and  should not, be prime minister. There is already an abundance of potential PM's within the rank of the Opposition!

No, it is just not the PM’s post that I am talking about. There are enough able individuals within the Opposition to be Finance Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, Defense Minister, and there are enough good people for all the other Ministries. Whoever is chosen PM from the ranks of the Opposition will be able to put together a Cabinet that we need. Lim Guan Eng, Shafie Apdal, Waythamoorthy, Rafizi Ramli, Nurul Izzah, Hannah Yeoh, Anthony Loke, Mat Sabu, Saifudin Nasution, Fahmi…the list is endless. 

There is an abundance of good men and women waiting to do their duty to King and Country, and certainly NOT, for themselves. After the lessons learned in the failure of the PH government ousted after Langkah Sheraton, I bet you they will all now be prepared for all eventualities. 

I do not see any frogs among them. I do not see anyone with a racist or religious agenda among them. I do not see any one of the with a personal agenda, among them. And for sure we will keep a constant and benevolent eye on them to make sure that their cakap is serupa bikin.

They lack for only one thing now. A leader worthy enough to lead. A leader who wants to lead because he understands duty and loyalty to the aspirations of the rakyat. A leader selfless and devoted to Malaysia, for Malaysia, and of course a leader of all Malaysians. We know there is all this, and more, within the ranks of the Opposition. 

What do they have within Barisan Nasional? 

Forget the Chinese, the Indians or the others within BN. There is only UMNO aka the largest political party of any race globally.  There is now only the leaders from UMNO that dictates all things within BN. And what leaders they have in UMNO! 

Najib, Zahid, Ismail Sabri, Tok Mat, the Umno Court Cluster - and all the have been that never was….Hishamuddin, Nazri, Anwar Musa, KJ, Tajuddin Rahman, Tengku Adnan, and do not forget their guest arrtist, Kak Rosmah of the Hermes Handbags and Pink Diamonds infamy! They are the leaders of UMNO and of Barisan Nasional. Not a solitary individual of merit, grace and respectability among them. Not one! For a shining moment there was Tok Mat who promised much, but he too was felled by the scrounge of that despicable mantra 

 : “Cash is King”. And with BN are a few of the Royals - including Mr Sultan Down South and Dollah Pendek, all lured by the promise of vast richness. 

Pakatan Harapan against Barisan Nasional in PRU15 is really an uneven fight, made despicably more so by CASH. Today, what has then hearsay a few months back is now fact. Pakatan Harapan should not have signed the MOU with Ismail Sabri because Umno will not extend the MOU once it ends in July. And why not? Simply said, Umno intends to buy as many frogs as is possible to ensure that they have the numbers to win PRU15. Umno wants to buy these frogs before, during or after PRU15. They have the inclination, they have the need, and they have the money to do so. There are enough greedy politicians within the ranks of the Opposition who are waiting to be bought when the price is right. The horse-trading has  already begun. 

Let UMNO do what they want now. Let them say what they want. Let them promise to do everything under the sun for us if they win PRU15. Just remember this. Only one thing stands between victory or defeat for BN at PRU15. OUR VOTES!!!. 

So guys go about the task of earning a decent living now. Take care of your family. Do what you must to keep body and soul together until you are asked to cast that one vote that you have. That one vote that you have, when put together with all the others votes cast by other Malaysians who have had enough of greedy and corrupt politicians….just that one vote of yours and the other millions from like-minded Malaysians…. will ensure electoral victory for Pakatan Harapan. Enough said. ABU! - Hussein Abdul Hamid

cheers.