The latest Aliran Monthly focuses on the situation in Sarawak.
The political outlook there does not look rosy for Taib Mahmud and the other BN component party leaders who are so dependent on his patronage.
For more information, go to the Aliran website here.
Why did Oxford University invite Taib as its star speaker? Sarawak Report explores the connections, if any, between Sarawak, Taib and Oxford in its latest piece here.
The Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) is believed to have sent its officers out to enforce a stop work order at an RMAF school construction site in Tanjung Bunga.
These photos were taken earlier today before the MPPP took action.
The MPPP action followed a complaint by a neighbouring resident that work was still proceeding despite a stop work order.
I am not making it up. That’s what it says in Taib Mahmud’s biography on the Oxford University website.
And since Oxford University – that centre of academic excellence and rigorous research – says so, it has got to be true, right?
Get to know the Chief Minister of Sarawak up close and personal. Read the bio here.
Did you know that he wrote a piece titled ‘Appropriate Strategy for Developing Countries in a Period of Resource Scarcity’? No doubt leaders of other developing countries will be able to pick up many useful tips.
The Penang Botanic Garden case is a bit complicated if you are trying to establish who exactly is responsible and who contributed to the mess.
The ill-conceived eco-stream walkway and the bambusetam projects were approved during the previous administration. So that part is clear.
Two other projects – the garden mall and the administrative and visitors’ centre – were approved during the tenure of the present administration in Penang.
The Sarawak Report has issued an apology and correction.
Apparently, the website had incorrectly reported the monthly income of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. See here.
The folks at Oxford University are obviously nonplussed by the Sarawak Report (if they have read it). They have honoured Taib by inviting him as a special speaker at a major event.
So our ‘favourite’ Malaysian millionaire, Low Taek Jho, is making waves with Paris Hilton in … where else but Paris.
The celebrity gossip blogs and websites are full of it.
And to think young Jho Low only graduated in 2005 from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is believed to have established Middle-East connections.
The Penang state government has appointed Tengku Idaura Tengku Ibrahim as Chief Controller of the Botanic Garden in a move seen as a positive development after months of wrangling over controversial ‘upgrading’ projects.
Victoria Amazonica lilies at Kew Garden: One suggestion is for the dug-up area between the two soon-to-be-demolished arches at the PBG to be converted into a large pond for giant water lilies and other water-based plants
The present Director of the garden, Nor Wahida Hassan, is expected to report to the new Chief Controller, who will in turn report to the Chief Minister and the State Secretary.
In recent months, the Botanic Garden has hit the news for all the wrong reasons after ill-conceived federally-funded ‘upgrading’ projects marred the lush garden surroundings.
A judge in France investigating a 2002 bombing in Karachi that killed 11 DCN employees has confirmed the existence of “illegal rétrocommissions” linked to the sale of submarines to Pakistan.
This was revealed by a lawyer for the victims’ families, according to a French general information magazine.
‘Retrocommissions’ are funds skimmed off ‘commissions’/kickbacks paid which are then illegally remitted to French officials i.e. individuals or entities in both countries get a share of the ‘commissions’.
The Paris-based Le Nouvel Observateur (or Le Nouvel Obs), a prominent weekly in terms of audience and circulation, along with AFP reporting, observed on 19 June:
Judge Marc Trévidic in charge of the investigation into the bombing of Karachi in 2002, confirmed the existence of “illegal rétrocommissions” outside the contract of sale of submarines to Pakistan, said Friday, June 18 counsel families of victims, Mr. Olivier Morice.