LIVE: High-stakes drama as Anwar holes up at Turkish embassy

Anil Netto
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Anwar and Syed Husin at a hotel in Shah Alam earlier (Photo courtesy of Anwar’s blog)

Saiful with Minister Azalina (Photo courtesy of PKR)

2307: All quiet at the Turkish embassy at 118 Jalan U-Thant. An eye-witness passing by the embassy says he saw only about 20 reporters and police personnel, a police van and a police car. And no PKR supporters. Is Anwar really spending the night at the embassy? 2231: The police have confirmed that a medical examination has been carried out on Saiful, reports Harakah Daily this evening. “Jangan dengar khabar angin. Dengar cakap saya. Saya ketua CID,” Bakri Zinin is quoted as saying. 2154: The big question now is what happens next? Will they go in after Anwar? Or will they just bide their time? Has the mattress been detained?(!!) How long can Anwar remain in the embassy? He has got to come out at some point. What happens when he resurfaces? And has this whole affair overshadowed Raja Petra’s explosive allegations, the Sapp bombshell and the large oil price hike protest scheduled for 6 July? 2134: By now, the news has flashed all over the globe including, as one blog visitor notes, in the Turkish online media. Al Jazeera carries a phone interview with Anwar. “The stakes have just gone up a lot higher,” Farish Noor tells me over the phone. 2010: Abdullah Badawi appears on TV3 news. He looks haggard, the bags under his eyes more pronounced. He says the government is not involved. As far as he is concerned, a report has been lodged and the police are investigating. Those who are accused will naturally deny it, he adds. But the news is not good at all for the BN. The MIC Youth chief has stepped down now. 1933: The allegations against Anwar could be seen as an attempt to halt Pakatan Rakyat’s bid to take over the country, says Pas vice president Husam Musa in Harakah Daily. But he does not think it will succeed as the people are able to evaluate the situation for themselves. 1905: Blog reader Abdul sends in this comment about Anwar’s links with the Turkish leader:
The Malaysian Insider is simply spinning it…. Anwar has got friends from all over the world. But what’s interesting is their temerity to say the opposition used AKP tactics. Which one? … Anwar is a good friend of Turkish Prime Minister, President and senior ministers just like he has close relations with Western and Muslim leaders across the globe. Anyway, Anwar-Erdogan relations are two decades old and not what the Malaysian Insider, the propaganda tool of the Dollah regime claims to be.
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Organic rice and curry, please…

Anil Netto
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While all focus is on higher oil prices, not enough attention has been given to higher food prices. Now, it has been suggested that the higher prices of food (and fuel) are being driven by extraordinary speculation in commodities by index-linked speculators. These speculators are said to be exploiting a “swaps-loophole” in US banking regulations, which allow certain huge investment banks to act as intermediaries and dealers in entering into index-linked futures contracts, which are quite unlike the normal futures hedging, where positions are regularly unwound. So how do we tackle higher food prices? Food security and self-sufficiency will help. There is no reason why each state in the federation cannot be self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables. We have fertile soil and a favourable climate. For instance, Penang once had thriving vegetable farms on the island; now a lot of our veg comes from Cameron Highlands. Penang still has fruit orchards in Balik Pulau and paddy fields on the mainland. These farmers need our support. The state could encourage more organic farming – even though agriculture might come under federal purview.
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Petronas’ pricey foray, Bakun nightmare, bumi par value

Anil Netto
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Three issues I would like to raise: Petronas hospital – undermining the public health care system Why is Petronas setting up a private hospital – the Price Court Medical Centre? I don’t supposed they named it after its pricey price tag of RM544 million… In the first place, what expertise does Petronas have in health care? Why is it jumping on the health care and medical tourism bandwagon? Shouldn’t it be supporting our government hospitals, which are badly underfunded and understaffed? By setting up a new hospital, wouldn’t it be encouraging more doctors to leave the government hospitals?
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New beginning for public transport – from the bottom up

Anil Netto
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More reactions from people regarding the federal government’s shelving of the mega transport projects for Penang. Obviously, the federal government doesn’t consider those projects as “people friendly”, which makes me wonder how they came up with those projects in the first place! Not a few people here are now seeing the shelving – or is it the scrapping? – of the monorail and Porr as a golden opportunity for Penang to do some serious public transport planning from scratch and to come up with a sustainable transport masterplan for the whole state. Let’s show them what we can do – to bring about a sustainable, people-friendly, affordable and accessible public transport system! Here’s a quick reaction from blog reader Moaz Yusuf Ahmad:
This news is great. Let’s hope that the Penang Government will use the opportunity to create a very effective public transport system for Penang, building it from the ground up. First, get SBPP (the state bus corp) started. The government can buy the buses and tender the operations contracts to various operators…and even operate the buses themselves. A few of the operators could be from other countries. How about some professional internationally-recognised operators like First PLC or Veolia or ComfortDelGro….
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Who’s angry? I am celebrating!

Anil Netto
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Last night, I received a couple of text messages informing me of this. The report below says the scrapping of the Penang Outer Ring Road (Porr) and monorail projects is “likely to anger Penang”. But to me, this must be the best news all month. Thank you, Mr PM, thank you! All those who cherish sustainable and cost-efficient public transport for Penang will be celebrating – even though the federal government may have had other reasons for shelving these mega crony-linked projects. Who cares what their reasons are… The important thing is that these projects have been shelved.
Malaysiakini

Penang’s Porr and monorail projects shelved

Jun 25, 08 8:36pm In a stunning move which is likely to anger Penang, the government has put off two major projects in the state – the RM2 billion monorail and RM1.5 billion Penang Outer Ring Road (Porr). MCPX According to evening edition of Chinese dailies, the government has slashed the two mega-projects as part of a major review to the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
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Abdullah plugs leaking dyke – but how long can it hold?

Anil Netto
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Phew, it’s been an eventful week – but as they say, you ain’t seen nothing yet! The way I see it, Abdullah is fighting a rear-guard battle to save himself – and the ruling coalition. Let’s see what his administration has been doing to try and keep the rakyat happy:
  • dishing out rebates to ease pain of subsidy removal (the pain is still there-lah)
  • approval for Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s application for registration (finally!)
  • allowing Harakah to increase its frequency to twice a week (Take that, Mahathir! The former PM had cut it down to twice a month after doing badly in the 1999 general election.)
  • planning to launch a crackdown on migrants in Sabah (uh-oh, more human rights abuses?)
  • lifting restrictions on journalists in the parliamentary lobby (talk about the BN shooting itself in the foot, in the first place, by restricting its own media!)
  • shutting down Kamunting Detention Camp (oh, sorry, not yet… just wishful thinking for now … akan datang…)
… and so on. But no matter what he does, it appears that many Malaysians have had enough – the reforms and concessions don’t go far enough – and cracks are beginning to show. For now, he has plugged the leaking dyke with his finger. But I dare say it won’t be long before other cracks emerge from the sheer force of the current of discontent. Here’s something I was working on for Asia Times the last couple of days. More cracks in Abdullah’s crumbling facade By Anil Netto These are trying times for Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who after a sub-par showing in the March general elections now faces opposition both from inside and outside his Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition.
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What is USM trying to do?

Anil Netto
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Who needs gold medals when you can be a serious global contender for a grand prize in gobbledygook…. Apparently, the Science University of Malaysia is planning to spend RM450 million to build a “science and arts innovation space”. USM had reportedly bought the 12.4ha plot of land in Bukit Jambul for RM59 million from IJM in March. (So much spare cash, huh? Or is it borrowed money? Or ultimately the rakyat’s money?) Looks as if USM is venturing into Big Business. Today, in theSun, there was a four-page cover wrap-around ad (how much did that cost?) which featured this sains@usm thingy. It was full of gobbledygook and jargon. Take this example from the V-C’s foreword:
The world of sains@usm will represent an innovative space that promotes highly integrated search and research with dedicated incubators and collaboratories as platforms to nurture transdisciplinarity as the way forward.
Huh? Could someone translate that please…
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A tale of two turf clubs

Anil Netto
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turf club By now, most of you would probably have received an email (perhaps more than once) pointing out the uncanny parallels between the assassinations of US presidents Lincoln and Kennedy.

I thought I would do a similar exercise for the Selangor Turf Club and the Penang Turf Club, which I think is quite revealing in showing their common modus operandi. So here goes:

The Penang Turf Club land in Batu Gantung measures around 250 acres.

The Selangor Turf Club land at Sungai Besi measures around 250 acres.

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Kedah govt’s disregard of environment alarms groups

Anil Netto
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Environmental activist Nizam stressing a point during a press conference

Grassroots groups in Kedah have expressed alarm at several projects that they say are threatening the environment in the state. They have released a Kedah People’s Declaration listing several projects they say are degrading the environment. In recent days, even the Penang government has expressed concern that water catchment areas in Kedah could be affected. While the Kedah state government may need to raise funds to compensate for a slowing down of federal funding for the opposition-ruled state, it should not resort to undertaking projects that could compromise the environment. Several groups have criticised a string of projects and proposals including the Kedah Hydrocarbon Hub, a granite quarry in the Gunung Jerai water catchment area and permanent forest reserve, and logging near water catchment forests.
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State government officials must declare assets now

Anil Netto
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Yesterday, a factory owner in Penang alerted me to the Penang Chief Minister’s response to a reader’s question in The Star.
(Reader) Your exco members are required to declare their assets but this has yet to be done. (Chief Minister) We wanted to but the Prime Minister’s department communicated to my state secretary that they wanted uniformity. And since we want to maintain good federal relations, we are waiting for them to send us the new forms because we also want to declare openly. If they do not give us the forms, we have to do this on our own but we do not want to use this issue to score political points.
The businessman told me he was not satisfied with the reason given for not yet undertaking the asset declarations to the public.
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Causeway toll bonanza for MRCB in the offing (updated)

Anil Netto
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UPDATED While the rakyat suffer from Barang Semua Naik, another well-connected company has hit the jackpot with this get-rich-quick scheme. How do they come up with these “brainwaves”… Well, as they say, make hay while the sun shines – for it may not be shining much longer for the BN. Instead of investing in public transport at a time of rising fuel costs, they can only think of tolls, tolls and more tolls for more and more highways and bridges serving more and more private motor vehicles. (Think also of the second Penang bridge, which will now cost at least RM5 billion, following the fuel price hike, from RM2.7 billion a year ago.) This report from the Singapore Straits Times. Great work, Leslie, for exposing this:
June 19, 2008 S’pore cars using Causeway may have to help fund new JB road Contract says toll will be levied on vehicles entering Malaysia to pay for new link to North-South highway By Leslie Lopez, South-east Asia Correspondent KUALA LUMPUR – THE Malaysian government has awarded a RM1.2 billion (S$500 million) contract for a road on the fringes of Johor Baru to a conglomerate linked to the ruling Umno party, a project analysts say will surely attract close scrutiny because it will be funded by sharply taxing vehicles using the Causeway linking Malaysia and Singapore.
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Australian health care consultant shown the door

Anil Netto
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Chalk up another victory for civil society groups. The Health Ministry has terminated the services of Australian health care financing consultant Karl Karol, it was revealed on Sunday in Penang. A senior Health Ministry official, Dr Lim Kuan Joo, told a ‘Malaysian Health Care Financing Scheme’ seminar organised by the Penang Medical Practitioners’ Society that Karol’s services were no longer needed because the Health Ministry felt that his proposals to fund health care were not appropriate for the country.
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Penang govt must probe PGCC/Batu Kawan deals

Anil Netto
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Reading theSun’s interview with the Penang Chief Minister, I was puzzled about one thing: why can’t the state government initiate its own comprehensive probe of the PGCC or call for an independent inquiry – and make public the outcome? Can’t they see for themselves what happened? Must they wait for evidence of mala fide to be supplied by the public, who do not have access to all the key players and documents in the deals? In the case of the PGCC, there are clearly many serious questions about how Abad Naluri, which has strong political connections, managed to get hold of over 1,000 acres of prime land in Batu Kawan on the mainland, just next to the site of the proposed second Penang bridge.
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Tenaga’s high employees’ benefits poser (updated)

Anil Netto
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UPDATED Tenaga’s employees’ benefits have increased by 81 per cent over the last two years, compared with only a 14 per cent rise in wages and salaries. That’s what a quick look at its financial statements reveals. The Khazanah head honcho had earlier defended the high salaries paid to the top officials in GLCs in this excerpt from a report in The Star today:
His comments, as reported by Bernama, were in response to comments in blogs that Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) CEO Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh and CFO Datuk Izzadin Idris were getting a huge (an unconfirmed 100%) salary increase.
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Sign up here for press freedom

Anil Netto
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benar memoSupport the cause for press freedom. This is an announcement from a string of civil society groups. I must say it is refreshing to see more new groups joining in the struggle for media freedom in Malaysia. What we need now is to achieve a critical mass of Malaysians demanding press freedom, whose voices cannot be ignored or suppressed any longer. The organisers are hoping for at least 5,000 signatures. So far, they have received just over 200. I hope readers of this blog can help them achieve their target.
Concerned Malaysians are working hard to collect as many signatures as possible for the 2008 Memorandum on Media Freedom – sponsored by Benar for Free and Fair Media (Benar), Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), National Alliance of Bloggers (All-Blogs) and Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI). The Memorandum, together with the signatures collected until 30 August, 2008 shall be presented to the national leaders on August 31, 2008 and to state leaders on September 16, 2008 to demand for reforms in media laws. This project will be weaker without your support. We hope you will place this image link on your blog to help promote the cause. There can be no free nation without free media. Let us come together to demand media freedom as the birthday present for our beloved nation. Thank you very much for your support and attention. In our love of the nation and freedom, All-Blogs, Benar, CIJ and WAMI

Be careful of FDI-driven growth

Anil Netto
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As we mark 100 days of the Pakatan governments in office, it has become fashionable to measure their success by the amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) they have succeeded in drawing in. Everything seems to revolve around FDI. So that even the decision to build a RM5 billion second road bridge in Penang hinges on what the almighty foreign investor thinks and not what sustainable transport planners consider appropriate. In short, state governments are rapidly becoming servants of Big Capital and Big Business, mere tools to serve and facilitate their interests.  FDI is seen as the prime mover of the economy. In the process, sustainable development especially environmental concerns, local businesses and workers’ rights take a back seat.  What has been the level of technology transfer after some four decades of promoting the electronics industry? As the experience of Latin America suggests, we would do well to proceed with extreme caution in dealing with FDI.
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Petronas accounts: Let’s see the detailed Profit and Loss A/c

Anil Netto
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Petronas is saying its financial statements are available to the public. True, they have the annual reports published on their website. But these provide only brief summary figures e.g. revenue, profit before tax, etc – not detailed breakdowns. As mentioned earlier, I would like to see the detailed accounts, not summary figures for revenue and profit before tax. I want to see the administrative and operating expenses, the other misc expenses. Let’s have a look at the detailed profit and loss acount.
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Subdued encore at City Stadium

Anil Netto
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I just dropped by for a few minutes to check out what was happening at the City Stadium last night. Around 15,000 people turned up at the stadium. I could say it was the first time in memory that the stadium has been used for an “opposition” event. But then I would be wrong – for these parties are no longer in the opposition at least in Penang. At least there was no sign of a police presence or FRU personnel at the side entrance facing busy Dato Keramat Road.
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Cheers! Have a rent-seeking beer label…

Anil Netto
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Making your way in the world today Takes everything you’ve got; Taking a break from all your worries Sure would help a lot. Wouldn’t you like to get away? (Extract of lyrics from the “Cheers” theme song)
Times are bad and everyone wants to get ahead in the world…. Today, while Malaysians were protesting in the heart of Kuala Lumpur against the sharp and painful oil price hike, comes news about what sounds like another rent-seeking operation. Beer makers Carlsberg and Guinness-Anchor are locked in a standoff over controversial security labels with a little-known firm Kod Efisien, which was awarded the concession. Kod Efisien later passed this concession to another firm, Lembah Sari. And guess who is a director in Lembah Sari…
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“Tak habis-habis dengan cerita ini”

Anil Netto
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Abdullah Badawi doesn’t see the need for a royal commission on the judiciary in the light of Justice Ian Chin’s revelations of Mahathir’s threats to remove judges. Such a commission is badly needed to comprehensively investigate the 1988 judicial crisis and the undermining of judicial independence and integrity since then. From The Star today:
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said this was because the Government had decided to reform the judiciary. “Tak habis-habis dengan cerita ini (The matter seems to be dragging on). I don’t see a reason for another commission. We are going to implement the reforms,” he told reporters at his office yesterday.
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