Many Malaysians are outraged at this latest development while those who have squandered billions of the nations wealth are roaming free.Nurul Izzah has been taken to the Jinjang Police Station a short while ago. She was arrested under the Sedition Act, introduced by the colonial rulers.She has been taken to the Jinjang Police Station and could spend the night there, if she is not released later tonight.
Penang-based activist Tan Seng Hai came up with this report:I took a drive to Teluk Kumbar in the South-East District of Penang Island for seafood the other evening. I was last there about six months ago. What I saw of the scale of development and hill-cutting shocked me.
Spare a thought for Adam Adli and Mandeep Singh who were arrested this evening after a protest at Sogo. See this Bersih 2.0 statement on the Aliran website.A Kuala Lumpur-based political analyst sent in his impressions of the event:By all accounts, it was an eventful night and the political stars from Pakatan Rakyat graced the occasion to lend support to Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar.
Mahathir’s blog at chedet.cc has been suspended for unknown reasons and is now inaccessible. The following is an excerpt from a snapshot of his blog as it appeared on 13 Mar 2015 07:22:52 GMT.1MDBMar13th
Written by Che Det1. UMNO telah mengadakan majlis penerangan tertutup yang dihadiri oleh sebahagian dari Ketua-Ketua Bahagian pada 8 Mac. Keputusan majlis mengikut akhbar ialah menyokong penuh Presiden parti.
The crackdown on opposition politicians, including those who participated at the ‘Kita Lawan’ rally, continues…
Left Prison. 4 Policemen at home. Unfortunately otw to KB. There’s alr appt at IPD Dang Wangi 16th Mac. Don’t understand why harshness reqd.— Nurul Izzah (@n_izzah) March 13, 2015
Meanwhile, Mahathir’s blog has gone done after his scathing criticism of the 1MDB scandal. His blog now bears the message: “The account has been suspended.”Mahathir had said:
What is needed is a forensic investigation by the police over the allegations against people who are involved in the financial management of 1MDB.
Yesterday I published a post saying that the MPPP was calling for a request for proposals for three lots of land near the Gurney Drive roundabout – though I wasn’t sure then of the precise location of those lots.Today I can confirm the precise location of the three lots. Two of them – Lots 1011 and 1373 – are covered by the white space above. It is possible that a large high density commercial or mixed development complex will spring up in that area perhaps to rival Gurney Paragon or other similar complexes.
The MPPP is calling for a ‘request for proposals’ for a plot of land at Gurney Drive.From what I hear, this plot is somewhere near the Gurney Drive roundabout and is likely to attract bids from many large companies. I am not sure where the precise site is, but I believe it is somewhere here (see below), perhaps around five acres including nearby roads. MPPP should tell us exactly where this land is located.
A group of activists from the northern region heading for the Sogo protest rally against injustice in KL today have expressed disappointment with the Penang government’s instruction to its elected reps to stay put in Penang.
While the nation’s attention was focused on 1MDB’s sensational unaccountability, Petronas quietly slipped in a bombshell. It wrote off RM23.3bn in net “impairment losses” in its accounts for 2014.The gross impairment losses written off in 2014 added up to RM25.3bn (see below) but there were also write backs credited to the accounts totalling RM2.0bn to arrive at a net figure of RM23.3bn.
This is the online petition to Najib from the ‘Gabungan Bantah Cukai GST Malaysia’. You can sign the form here.Petisyen membantah 6 peratus Cukai Barangan dan Perkhidmatan
From a Tanjung Bungah kiddo who used to struggle to keep up with the other boys at the Penang Swimming Club, Low Taek Jho aka Jho Low has paddled away to more enticing waters as an international wheeler and dealer. But now, he has come under intense scrutiny as 1MDB struggles to keep afloat in a sea of liquidity constraints.Check out this pretentious video and then decide whether you would want to do business with an outfit like this.
This was one of those rare occasions when Mahathir is talking some sense. But of course, we know this wily politician invariably has something up his sleeve.It doesn’t need Mahathir to tell us that it is game (almost) over for the PM. Najib is in extra time now as the pressure mounts on all sides. Across the length and breadth of the nation, people are murmuring and texting and WhatsApp-ing about 1MDB, Jho Low, Najib and Rosmah, and Sirul. That’s when they are not grumbling about the rising cost of living and soaring home prices – this, even before GST is imposed.
Folliwng a related earlier piece I wrote, an irate resident of Tanjung Bungah has lashed out against the construction of pavements, complete with railings around small greens in quiet neighbourhoods.The resident said:
(The agency responsible for this) (JKR?) has poured concrete for “drainage purpose” around the Pelangi field and created a so called “walk-way” – and now in the midst of putting grilles all around the circumference of the field. This is a small field with single-storey terrace houses fronting the whole circumference.
A distressed resident of Langkawi sent me these photos about the clearing of greenery in Pulau Tuba. Local speculation is that a factory is to be built here.
One of the factors contributing to the persistent fiscal deficit in Malaysia has been the deliberate and gradual reduction of income tax rates over the years.From a fairly progressive tax system, Malaysia has moved towards a regressive tax system. The government has trimmed the tax rates for the rich and super-rich over the years.Singapore is now bucking the trend by raising income tax rates for high-earners by 2 per cent.
Now that Anwar Ibrahim has been incarcerated, what will happen to the quest for reforms? Will it be derailed? Obviously, some people are hoping that this will be the case.Anwar may have been the catalyst for the unleashing of the reformasi movement when he was arrested in 1997. But the quest for reforms began much earlier, decades earlier in fact.
This is what Ambiga has to say of Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj’s new book.
Whether one is a capitalist, socialist or just interested in good governance, there is real benefit in reading this collection of speeches and essays by Dr Jeyakumar, one of the most principled politicians I know.
This could be a leading contender for the Dirtiest Stream in Penang. It is frightening to think that the polluted water could end up in the sea of Tanjung Bungah, not far from beach hotel resorts and popular stretches where many children wade into the sea.
Last night while taking the ferry from the mainland to Penang Island, I gazed at Penang Hill. Whereas in the past, the lights at the summit of Bukit Bendera (Flagstaff Hill) would twinkle in the clear night sky, this time other specks of light in the middle of the hill were piercing through the black shroud enveloping the hill after sunset – evidence of more hill-slope development or clearing.At this rate, Penang Hill will soon be transformed into a giant Christmas tree rising from the centre of a fairyland island surrounded by smaller Christmas trees (highrise condos for the wealthy at the sea front, built on reclaimed land). Do we want this sort of hill-clearing and hill-cutting in Penang? Surely, these bald patches are visible from Komtar.So it is timely that two dozen Penang-based residents associations and civil society groups have signed an open letter to the Yang Di-Pertua of the Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang expressing concern about the degradation of hills in the state.
Anwar may have been the catalyst for the unleashing of the reformasi movement when he was arrested in 1997. But the quest for reforms began much earlier, decades earlier in fact.
Anwar may have been the catalyst for the unleashing of the reformasi movement when he was arrested in 1997. But the quest for reforms began much earlier, decades earlier in fact.
This is what Ambiga has to say of Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj’s new book.
