A couple of MACC officers from Putrajaya turned up this afternoon to question Augustine Anthony, one of the five lawyers representing Perak Speaker V Sivakumar, a source in Ipoh informs me.
They questioned Augustine from 4.00pm to 4.40pm in Ipoh today.
Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim says the federal government recognised that its water privatisation policy had failed; so it introduced a restructuring of water management under which a federal body would take over the water assets and lease them back to the operators in the various states.
In Selangor, the state government owns about 70 per cent of the water assets with the remainder held by private companies. The assets owned by the state are valued at RM9 billion. The state government values the private sector’s assets and imputed equity at RM5.7 billion. (The assets alone are valued at RM4.6 billion though the federal government has valued them at RM5.0 billion).
Remember A Kugan, who died in police custody?
Well, he died as a result of “acute renal failure due to rhabdomyolysis due to blunt trauma to skeletal muscles,” an independent second post mortem has revealed. In layperson’s language: kidney failure as a result of repeated beatings. More accurately, his death was due to his muscle cells disintegrating into his bloodstream and absorbed by the kidney, which led to kidney failure.
His body also had severe burn wounds including those caused “by the repeated application of heat with an instrument or object with a triangular surface, causing multiple V-shaped imprint burn wounds on the skin of back”.
The majestic Democracy Tree that has now entered the annals of Ipoh folklore Photos by Jong (click to expand)
The raintree stands tall providing shade as the Perak State Assembly convenes an emergency sitting in the open air amidst the people.
All around, as Penang-based lawyer-writer Tan Ban Cheng observes, the traditional institutions of governance and democracy have not exactly distinguished themselves among the public.
Tense moments outside the state government building this morning (Click to expand)
The beaming BN lawyers (from left): Firoz Hussein, Faizul Hilmi, Cheng Mei, Datuk Hafarizam Harun, and Badrul Hishah Photos by KK
And the rejected, dejected PR lawyers (from left): Chan Kok Keong, Augustine Anthony, Tommy Thomas, and Phillip Koh Tong Ngee
The Judge had ruled that the Speaker could only be represented by the state legal adviser and not the PR lawyers.
From The Edge website:
2.55pm: Perak speaker sent letter to JC Ridwan Ibrahim stating he has not authorised state legal advisor Ahmad Kamal to act on his behalf
2.15pm: Lawyers for Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir are already at the Ipoh High Court studying legal points ahead of a hearing for an application of injunction to stop further meetings of the Perak state assembly. The hearing in the chambers of JC Ridwan Ibrahim is scheduled to start at 2.30pm.
On this historic day, the Perak state assembly held an emergency sitting under a tree, 200 metres away from the state government complex, after the people’s reps were prevented from sitting in their usual venue.
Democracy was returned to the people, gathered in a solemn assembly beneath this humble but majestic tree, its outstretched branches reaching out to the heavens while embracing and providing shade for the multitude below.
Thanks to Rain Tree for sending in this poem by Hamza Yusuf:
The historic "Pokok Demokrasi" - now part of Ipoh's folklore (Photo by Jong)
A tree knelt in praise
I know that I shall never see
A poem that bows quite like our tree
A tree who like us loved to pray
In adoration every day
A tree who humbly knelt in praise
To God and never chose to raise
Itself above the other trees
Instead remained as if on knees
A tree who gave our scholars shade
And never asked that it be paid
A tree whose needles never hurt
But gently fell upon the dirt
A tree whose worth cannot be told
Or ever lent or bought with gold
A tree who showed us all its height
With God by bowing with delight
2302: All’s quiet in ‘sleepy’ Ipoh tonight. It’s been raining the whole evening, says my contact in Ipoh. At Ground Zero, FRU trucks are parked in front of the state secretariat/assembly building.
Even the MB’s residence is exceptionally quiet. Not even a ‘ghost’ in sight. Where’s everyone?
In just over eight hours, another drama will begin in Ipoh, the latest chapter in the constitutional crisis that has captured the attention of Malaysia.
With a couple of contacts in Ipoh providing me updates, I hope to provide some modest live coverage from about 8.00am tomorrow. If you are in Ipoh as well, do send in your comments and eye-witness reports if you see or hear anything on the ground.
Sam G, who works in the electronics sector, shares with us the grim outlook in the industry and the ruthless way workers – and even management staff – are being retrenched:
…. it is REALLY, REALLY BAD now. I was at the USM EKSPEN 09. Only 11 companies were there having open interviews! This is one Expo to get companies to interview graduating USM students!
I have been retrenched twice in four months, first by the largest lab equipment manufacturer in the world, and the second time, by a NanoTech equipment manufacturing company.
In case you missed it, here’s what happened when a group of people turned up to lodge police reports in Brickfields yesterday, courtesy of Malaysiakini.
Uh-oh, the bottom’s fallen out Source: Statistics Department
Ringgit weakens against the US dollar and Yen
Buckle up, folks! We are in for some tough times.
Malaysia’s economy took a dive in the fourth quarter as GDP stood on the brink of negative territory, growing by just by 0.1 per cent, compared to 4.7 per cent in the third quarter.
Perak Speaker V Sivakumar calls for an emergency sitting of the state assembly Photo by KK
The emergency sitting is to vote on two motions: to affirm support for Nizar as the MB and to seek a dissolution of the state assembly, paving the way for fresh polls.
So the government has put off the highway toll hike to the end of the year.
But before you rejoice, think about this: the government will have to pay RM287m in compensation to the concessionaires:
Plus – RM195m
Sprint – RM36m
Akleh – RM27m
Besraya – RM9m
NPE – RM20m
That’s our money going straight into the concessionaires’ pockets. Easy money for doing nothing.
By the way, Plus Expressways Berhad made a profit before tax of RM1.5 billion for the year ended 31 December 2008 – up from RM1.3 billion the previous year.
Source: Statistics Department, Malaysia
Inflation may have dropped to 3.9 per cent in January 2009 in line with the fall in consumer demand and the end of the commodity price bubble. But even though the agriculture commodity bubble has burst, food prices remain high with the consumer price index showing a 9.8 per cent rise in January for food. (The food and non-alcoholic beverages component contributes over 80 per cent of the 3.9 per cent rise in the CPI index.) Imagine, the index for rice, bread and other cereals has shot up by 18 per cent.
The ruckus in the Parliament lobby where a group of angry Umno Youth supporters confronted Karpal this afternoon was disgraceful.
DAP MP for Segambut Lim Lip Eng alleged that he was assaulted and hit a number of times on the face and his body.
This incident reveals a breach of parliamentary security. Why did DAP MPs have to come to Karpal’s rescue? What happened to the security personnel on duty?
The Singapore economy shrank 4.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008 despite posting an annual growth of 1.1 per cent for last year.
For 2009, the Ministry of Trade and Industry is maintaining its forecast of minus 2-5 per cent, though others think it could be more than minus 5 per cent if the global economy worsens.
The IMF is projecting a global recovery next year – but that looks more than a little optimistic, perhaps wishful thinking. Truth be told, no one knows for sure how long this worldwide depression will last – certainly not the so-called economists who never saw all this coming 18 months ago. Any recovery is unlikely to be quick as the biggest consumers in the world by far are in the United States – and we all know they are in deep trouble.
A small white elephant in Bukit Gantang? – Photos by Jong
You have seen them dotted all over the country. Small projects which never really take off after construction. The amounts involved may be small – but they all add up. Who really benefits from all these small white elephants?
First, they put the pressure on Selangor MB Khalid.
Now, it’s the turn of Perak Speaker V Sivakumar to feel the heat. He was questioned by the MACC for three hours last night for alleged abuse of power probably in relation to the suspensions of BN state assembly members.
Meanwhile, Nazri informed Parliament yesterday that the ACA had opened four investigation papers into the Lingamtape affair. Three of these were sent to the Attorney General, who classified two under “no further action” while the remaining one was still awaiting further investigation. The fourth paper is still with the ACA.
In case you missedtheSun report, here it is:
It’s not just the economy that has slowed down. The local broadband service is now crawling at a snail’s pace.
For almost a week, we have been hearing complaints from many Streamyx users. Now we know why, or at least this is the official reason: cable/circuit problem with the US.
But why are local websites also slow? And why did it take TM so long to announce this? Have Singapore and other Asean countries encountered similar slowdowns?
Says blog reader syauki_x in Indonesia:
I’m writing this from Bandung, Indonesia…
I didn’t even know there was such a thing as cable/circuit problem with the US, until I read your entry…
The net connection here is just as normal as it gets…
Buck up, TM!
No one talks about the MSC anymore. Meanwhile, we will all grow old waiting for pages to download.
First it was bloggers Raja Petra and Sheih Kickdefella investigated for sedition.
Now it’s the turn of Jed Yoong, who was hauled up and questioned. Four police personnel also arrived at her house and confiscated her laptop, its power cable, a desktop CPU, a router and a modem, according to Jed in her blog. She was told she was being investigated for sedition.
Jed argued that her blog was not particularly influential, compared to the mainstream media. “I strongly feel it is ludicrous and absurd to say that I can even influence anyone what more incite racial hatred or any sort of hatred towards anyone,” she wrote in her blog. “If anyone is hateful, they will be so without reading my blog.’
The majestic Democracy Tree that has now entered the annals of Ipoh folklore Photos by Jong (click to expand)
The raintree stands tall providing shade as the Perak State Assembly convenes an emergency sitting in the open air amidst the people.
All around, as Penang-based lawyer-writer Tan Ban Cheng observes, the traditional institutions of governance and democracy have not exactly distinguished themselves among the public.
Tense moments outside the state government building this morning (Click to expand)
The beaming BN lawyers (from left): Firoz Hussein, Faizul Hilmi, Cheng Mei, Datuk Hafarizam Harun, and Badrul Hishah Photos by KK
And the rejected, dejected PR lawyers (from left): Chan Kok Keong, Augustine Anthony, Tommy Thomas, and Phillip Koh Tong Ngee
The Judge had ruled that the Speaker could only be represented by the state legal adviser and not the PR lawyers.
From The Edge website:
2302: All’s quiet in ‘sleepy’ Ipoh tonight. It’s been raining the whole evening, says my contact in Ipoh. At Ground Zero, FRU trucks are parked in front of the state secretariat/assembly building.
Even the MB’s residence is exceptionally quiet. Not even a ‘ghost’ in sight. Where’s everyone?
In just over eight hours, another drama will begin in Ipoh, the latest chapter in the constitutional crisis that has captured the attention of Malaysia.
With a couple of contacts in Ipoh providing me updates, I hope to provide some modest live coverage from about 8.00am tomorrow. If you are in Ipoh as well, do send in your comments and eye-witness reports if you see or hear anything on the ground.
Uh-oh, the bottom’s fallen out Source: Statistics Department
Ringgit weakens against the US dollar and Yen
Buckle up, folks! We are in for some tough times.
Malaysia’s economy took a dive in the fourth quarter as GDP stood on the brink of negative territory, growing by just by 0.1 per cent, compared to 4.7 per cent in the third quarter.
Perak Speaker V Sivakumar calls for an emergency sitting of the state assembly Photo by KK
The emergency sitting is to vote on two motions: to affirm support for Nizar as the MB and to seek a dissolution of the state assembly, paving the way for fresh polls.
Source: Statistics Department, Malaysia
Inflation may have dropped to 3.9 per cent in January 2009 in line with the fall in consumer demand and the end of the commodity price bubble. But even though the agriculture commodity bubble has burst, food prices remain high with the consumer price index showing a 9.8 per cent rise in January for food. (The food and non-alcoholic beverages component contributes over 80 per cent of the 3.9 per cent rise in the CPI index.) Imagine, the index for rice, bread and other cereals has shot up by 18 per cent.
