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Anwar “wins” debate hands down – but is now arrested

Anil Netto
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Almost all (97%) of you picked Anwar as the more convincing of the two debaters last night (see also: Anwar gets bloggers’ vote) – but today he is arrested – again. 

Here we go again – it’s like a re-run…no, a re-make… of a bad movie, complete with the balaclava-clad special squad. You just don’t want to sit through such a sordid saga again. Once in a life-time is enough, thank you very much.

Anwar was detained on his way back from the ACA office by a team of police officers just before 1.00pm – an hour before a 2.00pm deadline for him to report to the police station.

Nurul Izzah writes in her blog:

Dad was arrested by the cops whilst on his way to the IPK to give his statement. The cops gave till 2pm for dad to report but still arrested him before the deadline. Dad was on his way back home to have lunch in Bukit Segambut, and then head to the IPK but the cops blocked off the road and arrested him like a criminal. And the cops who arrested him were Special Squad cops with balaclavas!!! Is that necessary!!!

I hope and pray for our nation today. I ask all Malaysians to be calm but strong in this event. I truly do believe our nation’s future rests on what happens in the next weeks.

Please please do not give the authorities any reason to crack down on us. Let us do everything by the book and do what’s right.

And most of all, please pray.

Izzah

Minutes before his arrest, pandemonium broke out in Parliament when Khairy asked for Anwar’s DNA sample to be given to the police (see Harakah report below).

His family and many other Malaysians are already deeply concerned about how he will be treated in custody. Abdullah Badawi and his administration will be held accountable for this.

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LIVE: Anwar vs Shabery in the Great Oil Price Debate

Anil Netto
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Anwar and Shabery shake hands at the end of the debate. So what do you think? Who was the more convincing? Respond to the poll on the sidebar.

2151: Why don’t you give your ideas without talk of changing government, Dato Seri?

Anwar: If they accept our suggestion, we will support them. In Feb 2006, after an earlier price hike, there was 4.8 per cent inflation. Now, after the price hike, inflation has soared to nearly 8 per cent in a month. Venezuela and Iran may have low oil price and high inflation, but we now have high oil price and high inflation! Look at the countries around us – how we have lost out to them in competitiveness. I still believe Malaysia, with its resources, has the potential if it cleans up its act.

Shabery: Mahathir has been blamed for the IPPs, but Anwar was once singing the praises of Mahathir. He should have resigned back then. Why is he only talking about a 50-sen reduction now when the oil price was RM1.92 before the election and he promised to reduce it then? We will only burden the country with high subsidies and could end up in debt to international “money lenders”.

Petronas alone (not the group) gives 91 per cent of its profit to the government. What else is there to give? Petronas is strong because of the government of Umno and BN. We do not burden Petronas but allow it to reinvest. About this talk of abuse of power – we are not alone in raising prices; it’s a global problem.

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Petronas barrels in record RM96b profit as oil prices soar

Anil Netto
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Petronas has posted a record profit before tax of RM96 billion, a 25 per cent increase from the previous year.

Its turnover rose 21 per cent to RM223 billion ringgit for the financial year ended 31 March 2008. Revenue from international operations made up 40 per cent of the total figure.

The results were released about 15 days later than in the past five years, when they were out by 30 June. The record profit for Petronas comes at a time when many Malaysians are struggling to cope with a 41 per cent hike in the retail petrol price and its inflationary impact.

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Undersea cable cost for jinxed Bakun doubles to RM15b

Anil Netto
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I have always believed that the Bakun Dam has been jinxed, ever since the developers messed with the ancestral lands of the indigenous people and displaced them from the site.

Now we are witnessing a re-run of the scandal involving the second Penang bridge, which we might not even need in the first place. The figures are almost identical – except that for the Bakun Dam, the cost of the undersea cables is quoted in US dollars instead of ringgit.

In the case of the second Penang Bridge, the estimated cost has soared from RM2.7 to close to RM5 billion in a year or so.

In the case of the Bakun undersea cables, according to an Edge report, the cost of the cables has soared from US$2.5 billion (RM8 billion) to US$4.7 billion (RM15 billion), which is the figure quoted by a consortium led by Sumitomo.

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MV Agusta sold for 1 euro; Harley buys it for US$109m

Anil Netto
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I think Proton has some explaining to do. It sold MV Augusta for 1 euro after buying it for RM368 million. Now look at this – AP reports on 11 July the following:

Harley-Davidson Inc. said Friday it will buy Italian motorcycle maker MV Agusta Group for about $109 million to boost its presence in Europe, giving it entry into the popular performance bike market there.

And here’s a report from Bernama a couple of years ago.

Proton Defends Sale Of MV Agusta

KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Bernama) — In what appears to be an unending saga, Proton Holdings Bhd has again come out in defence of its sale of financially-troubled MV Agusta, reiterating that there were no synergies between the motorcycle maker and Proton as a car maker.

Describing continued criticisms over the sale and change in management announced by Proton in July 2005 as “uninformed speculation”, the national car company said there was “a refusal among some to acknowledge explanations provided earlier”.

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Foreign spies in Malaysia?

Anil Netto
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Apparently there have been people in the country gathering information for foreign security or surveillance agencies. Nine peoople are being detained under the ISA for “mengumpul maklumat untuk agensi perisikan/keselamatan asing“.

That’s a major news story, don’t you think? So why are most people unaware of these “spies”? Were these arrests reported in any of our mainstream media?

According to the “Menteri Dalam Negeri”, the nine are part of 68 ISA detainees at the end of April 2008. These people have been detained without trial. The Minister was responding to a question in Parliament from Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli, the MP for Kuala Krai.

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85% of motorists ready to switch to buses and trams

Anil Netto
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Photo by Henk Graalman, Adelaide

Trams in Adelaide, the “twin city” of George Town, Penang Photo credit: lightrailnow.org

It looks as if a huge majority (85 per cent) of urban motorists in Malaysia are ready to leave their cars behind at home if there is an effective and integrated public transport system comprising buses and trams. That is the outcome of a just concluded poll of 551 visitors to this site.

The main reason I put out this poll is that I wanted to allay the fears of those who are worried that dedicated bus and tram lanes may cause road congestion for motorists. The results confirm what many of us may have already guessed: many motorists are ready to abandon their cars in favour of buses and trams. So why are we still talking about new urban highway projects, ring roads, and other infrastructure for more cars?

Here are the poll results:

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Abdullah buys more time with 2010 handover deadline

Anil Netto
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It looks as if Abdullah Badawi has bought himself a little more time with this new handover deadline – he wants to hand over power to Najib in June 2010. Remember, before this latest development, many analysts were predicting that Abdullah’s shelf life would expire by December.

The PM probably knows that a lot of things could happen in two years which could jeopardise Najib’s chances of taking over. Najib’s ‘baggage’ could weigh down heavily on him in the coming months. His prospects have already dimmed somewhat after the allegations linking him to the Altantuya case surfaced last week. If a week is a long time in politics, two years is an eternity.

Najib is in no position to argue. He probably figures he needs a couple of years anyway to recover from all the negative publicity – so 2010 would now suit him nicely.

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38% of households struggling to make ends meet

Anil Netto
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According to the latest household income survey, the following are the percentages of families in the various monthly household income brackets.

Household monthly
Percentage
income range
of families



< RM 1000
8.6



RM 1001 – 2000
29.4



RM 2001 – 3000
19.8



RM 3001 – 4000
12.9



RM 4001 – 5000
8.6



RM 5001 – 10,000
15.8



> RM 10,000
4.9





100.0
Source: Figures presented by Senator Amirsham A Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, in response to a query in Parliament by Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, MP for Sungai Siput
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World Heritage listing: Some words of caution

Anil Netto
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Following Unesco’s recognition of George Town and Malacca as world heritage sites, LW wrote these important words of caution, which I thought I should highlight:

I just hope, though, that this listing will actually bring about more context sensitive and local-culture-based modes of development in Penang and Melaka that are sustainable in the long term – not speculative and profiteering projects that will only earn quick cheap dollars from tourists but suck the life out of the cities.

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