Malaysian judiciary hits rock bottom

 Accountability, Democracy, Judiciary, Malaysian finance/business  5 Responses »
Sep 202007
 

Well, say no more! As my academic friend observes: …this is a sterling opportunity to draw out the oligarchic control of this country — a chance to pull away from the ethnic ding-dong that’s going on. Here is the oligarchy of wealth and privilege: an Indian lawyer, a Chinese tycoon, a Malay judge, etc. And claiming to do this in the interests of the country, of the PM (Mahathir). Gives a whole new meaning to the word “muhibbah” – while they divide-and-rule the rest of the country, secure in their own positions of wealth and power. See this press statement by Aliran president P Ramakrishnan. He is calling for the immediate suspension of the Chief Justice and a review of decisions in the following cases:

PGCC: Council to hear nearby residents’ concerns

 Accountability, Civil society, Development issues, Environment, Malaysian finance/business, People's Park/PGCC  4 Responses »
Sep 202007
 

Feelings against the PGCC are running high. Despite the mainstream media’s almost total blackout of dissenting views, emails have been going around, highlighting the adverse implications for Penang if the project goes ahead. Concerned activists have begun a campaign to raise public awareness of the PGCC and its horrendous implications for Penang. In the midst of all this, some welcome news: the Penang Munical Council (MPPP) has given an assurance that it would be transparent and accountable in vetting the project. MPPP president Zainal Rahim Seman said the MPPP would ensure all the requirements are met before approving the project. theSun reports: Commenting on the complaints raised by several NGOs in Penang after the project was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Sept 12, Zainal said a public hearing will be held in three weeks time. “The developer has submitted it’s plans for the PGCC and [Read more]

PGCC: Why did the Penang Turf Club sell a goldmine?

 Accountability, Environment, Malaysian finance/business, People's Park/PGCC  7 Responses »
Sep 182007
 

Say you had a home that sits on vast, potentially valuable, prime land in a popular land-scarce island. You know that bigtime developers are greedily eyeing your sprawling green turf because when they look at it, you can almost see $$$$$ pop up in their eyes and hear the chek-chek-ting! of a cash register – you know, like in the cartoons. And then someone comes by and offers to buy your land at the present (relatively cheap) market value. And instead of paying most of the purchase price in cash, he offers to build you a “better” home on his even cheaper land on the mainland. Would you jump at the offer and dance in the streets? This is what has been bugging me the last few days. Something just doesn’t compute. Unlike the swamp land sold by the fishermen’s cooperative (which eventually was resold to the Port Klang Free [Read more]

Main Penang NGOs express alarm over PGCC

 Accountability, Civil society, Development issues, Energy resources, Environment, Malaysian finance/business, Media, People's Park/PGCC  10 Responses »
Sep 152007
 

If Patrick Lim and Equine Capital think it is going to be smooth sailing after the Prime Minister announced that approvals for the PGCC would be fast-tracked, they had better think again. This morning, half a dozen of the main Penang NGOs came together to express their stand against the development of the PGCC at a packed press conference held at the CAP office. Also present was a cameraman (the logo on the camera said ntv7, but I am not so sure) who meticulously videotaped the proceedings. (Let’s see what comes out on ntv7 tonight. I am not holding my breath.) Present were representatives from CAP, Penang Heritage Trust, Malaysian Nature Society, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Cepat, and Aliran as well as other concerned Penangites. The site of the project – the present Turf Club – was originally given by the government for a nominal sum and was zoned as ‘Open [Read more]

What Patrick Lim didn’t show us: The missing 35 towers

 Accountability, Development issues, Environment, Malaysian finance/business, People's Park/PGCC  16 Responses »
Sep 142007
 
What Patrick Lim didn't show us: The missing 35 towers

Holy shmoly! What the… So PGCC master planner Nasrine Seraji claims I misquoted her and took her comments out of context. She was reported as saying that those comments were made four years ago and that no slides or pictures were shown on my blog post, which she claims was also not in the context of her conference. But those comments were published by Canada.com last November, less than a year ago. Take a look at my original post here, where you can also find the link to her full original Canada.com interview (which doesn’t contain any pictures and slides either) and then you decide if I misquoted her and put her views out of context. You want to talk about not giving the full picture and putting things out of context? Patrick Lim, Fox Communication and the mainstream media have been misleading the public by telling us only about [Read more]

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