When the news spread that Khir Toyo had been charged in court for accepting in bribe, a political scientist sent me a message: “Khir Toyo arrested and Samy out. Elections must be very close now.”
He isn’t the only one with that thought. While a general election next year is by no means a certainty, one thing is a fair bet: the BN has begun to try and spruce up its image ahead of 2013, the deadline for holding the next general election.
But that’s a massive ask, though. Remember the corruption revelations in Sarawak?
And Remember Kasitah Gaddam and Eric Chia – the big fish (well, medium-sized fish, actually) who were hauled up in court ahead of the 2004 general election at a time when Abdullah Badawi wanted to show he was serious about corruption. What happened to them? Eric Chia was acquitted in 2007 and Kasitah Gaddam in 2009.
So the prices of sugar and petrol have gone up again. But who stands to gain?
This is the third time this year that the price of white refined sugar prices has been hiked. It was raised by 20 sen on 1 Jan and by 20 sen on 15 July. Now it’s going up another 20 sen to RM2.10 per kg. Okay, we all have to cut down on sugar for health reasons, but it’s going to have a spin-off effect on a host of other products like your coffee at the kopi tiam.
But who actually benefits? Only four refineries are allowed to import raw sugar into the country.
Chart courtesy of thestar.com.my
Once again, Penang is showing the way with a fun-filled week-long awareness-raising campaign for greater local democracy.
The events in Local Democracy Week, an initiative arising from Penang Forum 2, are being organised by various Penang-based civil society groups.
Click on the programme below to expand and see if there’s anything in there that might interest you.
What is the dispute between the Selangor government and the federal government over water supply and distribution in the state all about?
Essentially, the state government wants to take over water operations in the state because it feels that the politcally well-connected private firm Syabas has been inefficient and not complied with the terms of the concession agreement. The federal government could well bail out Syabas – with public funds. The Selangor government is also against Syabas’ plan for a 37 per cent tariff hike.
It all began under Mahathir’s ill-conceived privatisation policy. The website airuntukrakyat goes on to explain:
• Starting in 1997, BN privatised the various water companies in Selangor.
• Since then, Syabas and the others have exploited the people by draining them of hundreds of millions in cash.
• At present, the Selangor State Government wishes to return the right to control these companies back to the people.
Negotiations between the Malaysia and the European Union for a free trade agreement (FTA) are expected to begin in Brussels next week. But most Malaysians are being left in the dark about what this means for Malaysia while Parliament is not even looking at this seriously.
The way I see it, the EU-Malaysia FTA aims to prise open the Malaysian market for large European firms – in the same way that these firms are eyeing the vast Indian market under the EU-India FTA and the Asean market under the EU-Asean FTA. That’s the main agenda of Corporate Europe.
These large European firms or BusinessEurope are working very closely with EU Commission negotiators to secure the best possible outcome for themselves. What are they looking for? We can get a pretty good idea of what they want by looking at the negotiations for the EU-India FTA.
The Sarawak State Assembly has tabled and passed a White Paper to ‘prevent the escalation of dangerous politics employed by outsiders, especially politicians’.
The state’s Cabinet will decide at its meeting next Thursday whether to come up with legislation based on the White Paper.
The Taib Mahmud administration appears to be feeling the heat after all the damaging allegations of corrupt practices, shady deals and cases of obvious conflict of interest.
The appointment of Chua Soi Lek as Penang Port Commission chairperson comes at a crucial time for the port.
One of the prime rules of journalism is, always follow the money. Where the money is, that’s where things happen. Two major factors could explain the relatively high-level appointment of an MCA leader to head the Penang ports’ regulatory authority:
1) Privatisation of Penang port and wharves’ operations could be on the cards. The politically well-connected Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s name has been mentioned in various reports. Penang Port Sdn Bhd CEO Ahmad Ibni Hajar was reported in September as saying they were also awaiting the government’s approval on plans to list the company. Big money stakes will be up for grabs if the listing does proceed. (I maintain that Penang Port should remain in government hands. Preferably it should come under the state government’s purview.)
2) And let’s not forget that major expansion and upgrading work is in store for the Penang piers, deep water wharves, container terminals and ferry operations.
I just wrote something for Aliran on Chua Soi Lek’s appointment as Penang Port Commission chairman. I used that as a peg to show just how centralised our federal government has become – and the process continues.
Already there has been much debate online about the appointment of Chua Soi Lek as the Penang Port Commission chairperson.
Penang Port Commission (PPC) was established on 1 January 1956 under the Penang Port Commission Act, 1955. PPC is a statutory body under the Transport Ministry tasked with providing, maintaining and upgrading port and ferry services in Penang Port.
Sarawak Report has come up with a stunning revelation exposing who it claims owns Royal Mulu Resort.
See the report here.
Meanwhile Baru Bian, the State Liaison Chief for PKR Sarawak, has brought the revelation to the attention of MACC Sarawak.
Baru, Baru, don’t waste your time with the MACC.
There are two opposite extremes in Sarawak that are worlds apart.
First, an example of the harsh reality that faces the marginalised:
Hishamuddin’s aide falls into Sarawakian marsh
November 21, 2010
KUCHING, Nov 21 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was today shocked to see his special officer Datuk Firdaus Ismail fall into a marsh when a wooden bridge leading to the dilapidated home of an elderly villager in Kampung Gersik, here, collapsed. (From a Bernama report in Malaysian Insider)
A delegation from Putrajaya is planning a two-day study trip to Singapore next month to learn more about tree-planting.
Huh? Read this Malaysian Insiderreport.
A blog reader visited Singapore earlier this month and snapped a few pictures.
Surprisingly, I noticed that trees and plants at public places, by the roadside, at HDB condos etc are in better shape than those at private premises/condos. Can’t even find old sick trees or a branch of brown foliage, serious no exaggeration!
The Perak government is desperately trying to promote heritage tourism, but as one writer observes, there is no evidence that this “top down, bottom up” approach, requiring love and respect for our heritage, exists anywhere in Ipoh.
Saw this piece by Ian Anderson in the Ipoh Echo:
Once there was a beautiful Italian marble fountain on this site (in Little India). It was put there not by government, but by the businessmen of Ipoh in memory of the 8th British Adviser, E W Birch, who unlike his father had been good to Ipoh and Perak during his tenure. Indeed without his assistance, New Town would not have been built. However in the 1980s the memorial was removed by the City Council in the name of development.
The late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu will be remembered as a leader who left his imprint on Penang during a time of turbulence and ferment in Malaysia’s post-independence years.
His experiment with multi-ethnic politics with Gerakan – in its initial years at least – fired the imagination of many Penangites and other Malaysians.
His economic policy of promoting export-oriented, foreign investor-driven development – the standard World Bank model in support of MNCs – gave birth to the electronics industry and the Free Trade Zone in Penang. It compensated somewhat for the loss of Penang’s duty-free status.
Philippine President Aquino has declared his assets showing that he is worth RM3.6 million (50 million pesos). Now when will we get to know how much the Malaysian Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers are worth? Transparency anyone?
Aquino submitted his ‘Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth’ to the Ombudsman’s office soon after he assumed office. Notice, it is not a statement of income but of assets.
In contrast, his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo started her term of office with a net worth of RM4.8 million. By the time she stepped down from office, her wealth had soared to RM10.2 million.
I don’t know about you, but I got that sinking feeling when I heard that Penang Port could be privatised.
At present, Penang Port comes under the federal Finance Ministry. The government reportedly has already spent RM1 billion over the last five years to upgrade Penang Port.
Now the news is that Malaysia’s seventh richest man, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, could take over the port, as reported in the Singapore Business Times. Just how many ports do they want him to take over? His MMC already controls Port of Tanjung Pelepas and the Johor Port in Pasir Gudang.
The opposition in Sarawak have accused the state government of tampering with the state assembly’s Hansard, the recording of the Dewan’s proceedings.
See Free Malaysia Reporthere.
An independent source told me the episode is accurate as he was unable to download the fourth day’s proceedings. “The fourth day proceedings were mainly opposition speeches. It has not been uploaded. If Parliament can upload opposition speeches in Hansard, why not Sarawak? Or is the Sarawak Chief Minister beyond reproach?”
Something is happening at the Subang Ria Recreational Park and it doesn’t sound good. Although the state government had agreed that all 73 acres will be maintained as a green lung, it appears that 19 acres could now be allowed for commercial use.Sunrise over Subang Ria Park - Photo credit: subangdailyphoto.blogspot.com View Larger Map
Why can’t they learn from the 350-acre Hyde Park and the 275-acre Kensington Garden (both combined, larger than the size of Monaco and lying right smack in the middle of London), which are virtually untouchable? But then some of our developers are greedy and think nothing of depriving present and future generations of precious green spaces. All they can think of is $$$
The leak in Parliament – yet again – is an act of God, says Nazri, pointing out that the building is old. Actually it just reflects the lack of a culture of maintenance or plain incompetence.
Go ask the JKR, Nazri says, after being repeatedly questioned by journalists. Part of the problem, he said, is that the building was not designed for air-conditioning.
