Smuggling At Sungai Golok : Surat Dari Pembaca

I received this message from another reader :

"Salam - can you do a good cause for poor Kelantanese? Issue: smuggling of cooking oil from Rantau Panjang to Sg Golok, Thailand, some 300 meters from the Customs Station in duty free zone Rantau Panjang (RP).

Cars (all types - Kenari, Kancils BMW minis etc) drive and park in front of some shops then unload cooking oil into the shops to cross the river (Sg Golok).

Young Malay boys are the "runners" - but a Chinese in Kota Baru is the brains - cooking oil is still short in Kota Baru. If so rampant I wonder why Polis, Customs, Rela, JPJ and all other "power" dunggus don't act?

A simple way is to "check" incoming cars into the duty free zone (this is not done) plus outgoing cars. By the way its big business."

(My comments : So what are the Customs, Police and JPJ at Rantau Panjang doing? I think we have heard this for decades now. It is no surprise if cooking oil is so short in Kota Baru. Everything is being smuggled out to Thailand. Cooking oil is subsidised in Malaysia. I hope the rest of us Malaysians can appreciate the fact that our cooking oil is subsidised and so cheap.

The Thais do not enjoy our subsidies. The people who smuggle out the cooking oil are 'makan dua kali'. They are most likely cooking oil producers or traders who are enjoying the benefits of the subsidy. When they smuggle the subsidised oil to Thailand, they sell it at a higher price and make more profits.

Police, Kastam dan JPJ di Rantau Panjang kena peka lah sikit. Kalau buat tak tahu nanti orang kata kes tutup mata sebelah lagi. Please do something.)

Surat Dari Pembaca : The Sale Of Jaring

Here is another letter from a Blog reader about the purported sale of Jaring.

Salam Sdr Syed Akbar,

Saya mengikuti perkembangan semasa tentang apa yang saudara tulis...harap saudara bole komen to all our readers pasal news yang paling latest ini (seperti di bawah)... tender ini tidak telus dan berbau politik.

Three said to be finalising bids on Jaring

By B.K. SIDHU and RISEN JAYASEELAN

starbiz@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: At least three parties are said to be finalising their bids to buy overJaring Communications Sdn Bhd after several failed attempts by the Government to sell the broadband company in the past.

One of the bidders is Puncak Semangat Sdn Bhd, a company linked to Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary. Another company called CMC Engineering Sdn Bhd is also in the running, while a third party is said to be one that is politically-linked.

CMC is a company more known for its bidding for engineering work for extensions to the light rail transit (LRT). The company was founded by Datuk Abdul Rahman Yusof, formerly general manager of Sapura's Uniphone business.

Puncak is slated as one of the nine telecom companies that will be receiving a block of the LTE 4G spectrum sometime this year, paving the way for Syed Mokhtar's entry into the digital communications space. An acquisition of Jaring by Puncak could be driven partly by an interest in the technical team in Jaring, whose staff strength numbers around 350.

“Puncak could expand Jaring's network, though it would mean pumping in money to expand the network. But if Puncak is serious about getting into the world of mobility and communications it has to start somewhere,'' said a source.

Sources said the three parties will submit their bids “in the next few weeks” to the Finance Ministry (MoF), which wholly-owns Jaring.

“It is not an open bid. Some parties are keen and want to submit their proposals. It is purely an industry initiative and they (the bidders) may have conducted a due diligence on Jaring,'' said a source.

This is not the first time there has been talk of the sale of Jaring as this company has been a takeover target many times over, beginning as far back as 2001 when Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) had first expressed an interest in buying Jaring.

That didn't materialise. Interestingly, a government budget speech a few years later had also indicated that Jaring would merge with TM but that too didn't materialise. A few years later, Time dotCom Bhd had sought to acquire Jaring but its low offer price didn't interest the Government.

Subsequently in 2007/08, a tender exercise was called by MoF, using an advisory firm to handle the bids. Again, Time dotCom was one of the bidders, along with four other parties, including Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd.

No deal was struck and industry sources said that pricing and policy issues were the stumbling block.

Then the parties were said to have offered between RM15mil and RM27mil.

One source said that MoF was hoping to get a price of RM50mil for its 100% stake in Jaring. Jaring is barely profitable but has valuable government contracts that amount to more than RM50mil in revenue every year. These include providing fixed broadband services, back-end infrastructure solutions and data centres to government offices and universities. It also earns revenue from providing the same services to private sector clients although that business faces tough competition from TM and Time DotCom.

Jaring was the first company to provide Internet access to Malaysians. However, over the years, due to competition and lack of an extensive infrastructure, it has remained a niche player.

That Jaring is up for sale is in line with the Government's drive to sell down its stakes in companies, especially those in non-core areas of business. Last month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak told Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd to divest their non-core holdings or stakes in companies to bumiputra companies via an open tender exercise. Thus far, ten companies have been identified for potential divestment. Jaring however, was not one of them.

It is not known why CMC would be keen in Jaring, but the purchase of Jaring by Puncak would make a lot of business sense to the latter.

My comments : Jaring is a massive monopoly. No matter who takes over Jaring will enjoy instant cashflow. They are Malaysia's main gateway to the Internet.

The purpose of selling GLCs to capable bumiputeras is to create the bumiputera entrepreneur class. This is not always succeeding. There are exceptions. I just received a most pleasant email from an ex colleague of mine who succeeded in taking over a GLC. However it was an ailing GLC which dealt in consumer products, meaning they had to compete with Chinese and other businesses for their businesses. Yet they survived and the young man I knew is now a multi millionaire. He said he had to sweat blood in the early years.

I have always said that the open market is the greatest source of wealth. If we do not embrace the market, we will miss out on great opportunities to become productive and wealthy.

Hence I have concerns about outfits like Jaring which are monopolies or at best they are oligopolies. My view is that when we sell monopolies or oligopolies to bumiputeras we are destroying capacity.

Why do you think 40 years of SEDCs failed (State Economic Development Corporation)? Why do you think the only SEDC that succeeded (yes they did lah) is the Johor SEDC?

The Johor SEDC succeeded because they went out into the market place, for example they were among the earliest players in private hospitals. They competed aggresively in the market. Now even J Corp is having some issues but n'theless they have ventured far and wide outside Johore.

In stark contrast, the GLCs (for example Khazanah and its stable of donkeys) have not created the bumiputera entrepreneur class at all. Instead they either run monopolies into the ground or they have become fund managers who blow a billion here, make a million there (almost by luck). They do not compete in the market place, they do not have to borrow money or raise funds on their own merit (their borrowings are Gomen guaranteed or they just pick up the phone and yell "Ammaaa" to their Minister In Charge.)

Everything is provided for them on a silver platter - their money comes from the taxpayer, or it is Govet guaranteed. Their markets are usually monopolies. Or they can get a 5000 acre piece of land with infrastructure all provided free of charge (at taxpayers expense). But even that they can screw up.

If they cannot sell their final product, no sweat - the Gomen will bail them out. They usually build buildings, plenty of them, which often stand empty. No problem. They just pick up the phone and yell "Ammaa" and before you can say 'Yennadey' the Gomen departments, other GLCs etc will take up the building space and save their behinds. This is not creating entrepreneurship. We are creating cretins, or corporate mongoloids who do not know how to compete.

I think this may happen to the Jaring sale. The question we need to ask is how do we privatise State business, especially monopolies and oligopolies which at the same time stimulate competitive behaviour and entrepreneurship? We must bear this in mind always.

Surat Dari Pembaca : Sara 1 M'sia

I received the following from a reader. It is a comment. I dont see anything hugely incriminating here. It is a concerned argument which raises issues about using public funds again. There may be a proper explanation for this. N'theless I would like to share this letter that I received from a reader. Here goes :

"I read your blog with interest but have never written in before. I have come across something that may be of interest to you. I personally find it shocking, but unsurprising, considering the state of the Government today.

A friend who is closely involved with the Ministry of Finance told me that the Government is trying to use EPF money to finance the Sara 1 Malaysia scheme to the tune of RM4 billion.

If you remember, this is the scheme announced by Najib together with PNB to encourage low income families to 'save' by investing in Amanah Saham 1 Malaysia units. Supposedly, participants will walk away with RM8000 in five years without putting any money in as they get 100 pct financing to buy units. A fairly blatant vote grab just like BR1M.

The shocking thing though is that the cost to Government to implement the scheme is RM4 billion over the five years to subsidise the scheme's interest for participants, something which was never revealed. What's worse is that because this is unbudgeted, they don't have any money to do it and are trying to borrow the cash from EPF, in a repeat of the DBKL low cost housing fiasco.

I think this is terrible ! I hope you can use your resources to check if this is true and if so, please highlight it. If the BN government is really being this irresponsible, people have a right to know. Thanks."

Folks, if you are in the know about this, perhaps we can get readers to comment further on this issue. Lets share more information. The better informed we are, the less chances for not nice things to happen.

Grilling Lembu Condo

Well what do you know? We were shopping at TMC in Bangsar on Wednesday and we spotted these beef steaks nicely wrapped and ready for sale. The label on the beef steaks looked different from what we had seen before.

I saw the label said 'Gemas Gold'. Then upon closer inspection the sticker said, 'A proud product of National Feedlot Corporation'. Here is a picture.

This is so typical of that family. Instead of saying "A proud product.." why not try 'A quality product of the National Feedlot Corporation'? You are selling a food product, not your pride.

It is better to guarantee the high quality of your product. Your pride is what got you into the stink in the first place.

Having said that the meat was of good quality. Very lean, with not much 'marbling' (fat content). Marbling means the white streaks of fat running across the meat (like the white streaks on the marble table top in our kitchen which you can see in the picture). However a good steak cut should have some marbling - it makes the steak juicier when it is cooked.

The next picture shows the steaks in the oven. You can oven grill steaks provided you keep an eye on the timer and the temperature. 8 - 12 minutes at 140 degrees Celsius should give you a nice medium rare. Soft and juicy. Here are the lembu condo steaks being grilled in the oven - by Chef OutSyed The Box.

For these steaks the marinade I used was very little olive oil, crushed black pepper, a wee bit of butter (for more flavor) and plenty of salt, all applied on the top side only of each steak. There was no flipping or turning over the steaks because the heat was from both above and below.

Served with a really nice salad, cold pasta and a potato - mushroom dish which the Mrs cooked up in a jiffy, it was a nice dinner for five.

I think the NFC should just stick to producing good quality beef. And their price was very competitive too. Six steaks (ok size lah, could be a little thicker though) cost just over RM30.00 only. A single steak dinner at Chilis will cost not less than RM50.00.

Congrats to the NFC for putting out a good beef product on the market. However I dont think they needed RM250 million to make this happen. They can just return the rest of the money back to the Gomen.

Another Court Case, And Another, And Another

This is from The Star :

Trader: I agreed to be nominee as duo were Anwar’s cronies

• A businessman agreed to be a nominee for a RM445mil syndicated loan facility as two individuals told him that they were principals acting for (Finance Minister) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
• Low Thiam Hoe, 55, said he believed Hamzah Harun and Mohd Faiz Abdullah of Arus Murni Sdn Bhd in an instant when they told him in March 1997 that they were principals acting on behalf of Anwar (the Finance Minister)..
• “They told me about a deal where I, together with certain other individuals and/or companies, were to finance the majority shareholders of Arus Murni Corporation Bhd (AMCB) in return for a pledge or mortgage of our respective shareholdings in AMCB as security for some syndicated loan arranged by the plaintiff (Hong Leong Finance),” he said.
• He said he agreed to be a nominee for the syndicated loan transaction based on the representation, adding that it was also because Mohd Faiz was Anwar’s speech writer.
• he said there were Arus Murni, Hood Osman, Nik Hussain Nik Mohamed and Mekuritek Sdn Bhd.
• he said: “From what I know, they are all cronies of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.”
• Questioned by Hong Leong’s lawyer, Low agreed that he knew what he was getting into concerning the deal.
• Paramalingam told the court that Anwar refused to accept the subpoena when it was served on him on Wednesday evening at Parliament.
• would move to the court to compel the Opposition Leader to attend court.
• The hearing continues on April 12

Well, this is another Court case involving you know who. Nallakaruppan is also getting ready to do battle with him in Court. Nallakaruppan better hire some more tough bodyguards. And be careful when he is driving. You will never know when you are going to be a victim of a hit and run. Azizan Abu Bakar's wife was killed by mysterious people in a hit and run accident. Guess who was in power at that time?

Couple of interesting points here though. The guy has refused to accept the subpoena. Why?

According to the Law, a subpoena (which is actually an instrument of the Court) can be served on anyone. Otherwise the Court system will cease to function - just like the divorce cases in the Syariah Courts before. If people can just ignore subpoenas and summonses then what is the purpose of having the Courts in the first place? He refused to swear on the Quran, refused to swear in the masjid, refused to be questioned in the Liwat Trial and now refuses to accept the subpoena to appear in Court.

The other point is of course, even if subpoenaed to appear in Court the guy will say 'Kam Sa Dau' (which is "I dont know" in Vietnamese). He will deny everything. Well, what else can he do? Takkan nak mengaku saja. Habis lah career.

But lets figure this out. Are we supposed to believe that this Chinaman towkay just signed up an RM445 million loan based on a whim and a fancy? I dont think so. And the purpose of the loan was to take control of a Melayu financial institution, related to UMNO? Must have been a bloody audacious Chinaman.

Folks, you know, I know, the neighbour's cat knows that in this country, even until today you cannot even dream of taking over any financial institution without the blessing of the powers that be, especially the Finance Minister. No honey, no fly. What more a Chinaman taking over a bank owned by the UMNO boys.

So to say that the towkay got up one morning and said, "Hmmm...today I will just go over to the Bank and sign up an RM445 million loan. Then I will take that money and see if I can go and buy that Melayu owned, UMNO related financial institution" does not make sense at all.

Is that how Chinaman towkays do things in this country?

Or lets imagine for a minute Hong Leong Finance which gave out the RM445 million loan. (Err by the way this Hong Leong Finance was owned by Quek Leng Chan - who was a vely, vely good friend of you know who at that time.)

Imagine the Board of Directors or the Credit Committee of Hong Leong discussing this loan application.

Managing Director : 'Err Mr Chairman, this audacious Chinaman Mr Low Thiam Hoe wants to borrow RM445 million. He wants to use the money to buy over a bumiputra owned (and bloody UMNO related) finance company. We recommend for the Credit Committee to approve this loan'.

Chairman : 'OK chaps. Sounds good. Lets just give him the RM445 million loan. Chinese towkays buy up UMNO controlled companies all the time. That's that. So whats next?'

Managing Director : 'Lunch will be served soon. Its corporate dim-sum today'.

Chairman : 'Splendid. Sounds delicious'.

If you think this is how Chinaman towkays conduct business, please go and have your head examined.

This was a 'done deal'. At least that was what Low Thiam Hoe thought. Unfortunately he never knew what was going on under the covers. Neither did he know about a woman by the name of Ummi Hafilda Ali - who would throw a major spanner in the works.

Lets wait for Nallakaruppan's day in Court as well. At the Press Conferences he had last week, Nallakarupan also said he knows who is the father of that child. Or alternatively who is the child of that father. It is going to be quite interesting.

(I did not say this. That is what Nallakaruppan said at his Press Conference. It is in the public record. Go to Unspinners or AIDC and read the reports). Here are two pictures of one of those Press Conferences by Nallakaruppan.

Please note something extremely very interesting in these pictures.

Before that, Dato Shafee Abdullah is the lawyer acting for Nalla. This means Anwar Ibrahim is already in serious trouble. Shafee is a topnotch trial lawyer. Mampus Anwar kalau kena grilling kat Shafee Abdullah dalam Mahkamah.

The others in the picture are all formerly strong Anwar Ibrahim supporters like Members of Parliament YB Zulkifli Noordin, YB Zahrain Hashim and YB Gobala. They have all come to realise the real chameleon who has fooled them. There is one more Chinese guy in the picture who is supposed to be among the founder members of Keadilan way back in 1999. He too has jumped ship and wants to expose the real Anwar Ibrahim.

But the interesting thing I want to point out is Ruslan Kassim (seated second from extreme right, in the second picture above). Ruslan Kassim was an extreme Anwarista, a strongman in ABIM, former law lecturer at the Islamic University in the 90s (where he taught my wife) and an out and out supporter of Brader Anwar Bin Ibrahim. Ruslan was also a Magistrate in the Courts at one time. They have all turned against Anwar Ibrahim now.

Look at the two pictures again folks. Do you see any UMNO boys or BN boys? Nope. These are ALL ex-Pakatan guys. They were all fooled by the chameleon. They are correcting their mistakes now. Lets see what else comes out in the Courts.

Talent Corp Wasting More Money

Folks recall Talent Corp? Another time wasting, taxpayers' funds wasting stupidity that has been thought up by another bunch of con-sultans. While we were sleeping, they have been staying up nights thinking up really stupid ways to waste public funds. In the process, the fat lembus and fat kambings among them will get even fatter on public funds.

Here is the latest piece of stupidity to come out of this Talent Corp. Just when you thought these folks have hit the bottom of the pit, they can dig a hole and sink down even deeper.

• TalentCorp organises outreach sessions for professionals in Britain
• 
  
• LONDON: TalentCorp and its partners are hitting the ground in Britain to engage the thousands of Malay­sian professionals and students based there in a series of international outreach sessions.
• Besides London, TalentCorp will cover several other cities including Newcastle, Manchester, Glasgow and Dublin.

(My comments : You know what this really means? These beggars will be burning taxpayers money on first class air tickets and jetting around under the guise of "international outreach". Read more.)

• Among other things, it will or­­ganise career fairs and networking dinners for the professionals, be­­-sides guiding the students on how to prepare proper resumes and make an impact during inter- views.

(MY comments : You mean Talent Corp from Malaysia is going to tell graduates and medical professionals from London, Ireland and Scotland "how to prepare proper resumes and make an impact during inter-views" ?? Pi belajar London pun takkan tak tahu tulis resume atau 'make impact during interviews'?

I mean, this dumb s**t TalentCorp says they are supposed to bring back talented Malaysians from overseas. Say they meet a guy. Say he is a brain surgeon. Then they interview him. "Hello Mr Brain Surgeon, you have 10 years experience as a brain surgeon in the UK. You have operated on Tony Blair, the Queen and the Prince of Wale's favorite horse. But we are sorry we cant hire you to work as an Investment Analyst with Khazanah Nasional because i. you cant write a good resume and ii. you did not make an impact at the interview. Sorry. We have to catch the sales at Selfridges now."

You have already stated that you want to "bring back talented Malaysians". And in your tiny worldview, talented Malaysians all work in London (where by coincidence or not Harrods, Selfridges and other department stores also have sales). But now you say, you want to show these talented Malaysians in London how to fill resumes properly and conduct themselves well at interviews.

• TalentCorp is supporting the UK and EIRE Council of Malaysian Students – the largest representation of Malaysian students in the Britain – and Graduan, a career resource organisation, in hosting two full-day career fairs. The first was on Tuesday at Northumbria University. The largest employment event for Malaysian students in Britain will be held at University College London on Sunday. These career fairs are endorsed by TalentCorp under its Career Fair Incentive.
• Under this, Malaysian companies participating in the career fairs are offered double tax incentives.

(My comments : Why double tax incentives for these companies? And they are all GLCs or crony con-sultan companies. Why wasnt this offer made known to the entire Malaysian economy? I did not know that there will be double tax incentives for my company if I participated in the career fair in London. You mean a GLC like CIMB which already makes billions of Ringgit will get double tax incentives just because they help justify TalentCorp blowing a few million Ringgit of taxpayers funds and flying around First Class?

By the way, here is a small but annoying question. How much is this little junkie trip going to cost us the taxpayers? RM5 million? RM10 million? Dinners in London and Dublin, junkie fairs at Manchester and Newcastle. And who is the thief who is playing the con-sultan role here? There must be a con-sultan involved.)

• “The annual event provides Malaysian students the chance to learn about the dynamic career opportunities and secure jobs in 40 leading companies and organisations such as the Securities Commission Malaysia, Sime Darby, PwC, CIMB Group among others,” TalentCorp said. Dinners will also be held in Glasgow and Dublin for other professionals next Wednesday and Friday respectively.

These are all GLCs and crony companies of the GLCs. Why do you have to go to London to hire people? If you are all so hot shot companies, shouldnt people be lining up to get a job at the GLCs?

May I make a simpler, much much more effective and much much cheaper suggestion? Why dont TalentCorp try the Star Classifieds, The Malay Mail Classifieds or NST's Appointments page ? Just say lah :

Vacancy at Goyang Kaki GLC.

Qualifications : Properly written resume (Good interview skills will be an added plus).

Experience : Will be provided.

Remuneration : Satu untuk kau, dua untuk aku.

Benefits : Dua untuk aku, satu untuk kau.

Dont con us with this junkie trip to London blowing millions of taxpayers funds. Anyway while you guys are there, do check out the Men's Shoes section at Harrods. They have this neat pair of shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo. Here it is.

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO

Basilea Suede Shoe £345.00

Product Code: 2751274

A must-have for any dapper gent, Salvatore Ferragamo’s Basilea shoe features smart suede panelling and distinctive punched detailing; perfect for adding a quirky touch to any ensemble.

Can you read that? Its a "must-have for any dapper gent, perfect for adding a quirky touch to any ensemble." Doesn't that sound like the TalentCorp guys?

Ignore China?

I just wanted to say a few more things about the talk I attended today where the American professor was indirectly trying to run down China. He was saying that the countries of the Pacific would do better by sticking with the United States, instead of China. Well here is some news to the contrary:

China and Malaysia trade this year (2012) is expected to hit US$100 billion, which will make Malaysia the third country in Asia after Japan and South Korea, to reach that level, China's Ambassador to Malaysia, Chai Xi, said. Chai Xi was speaking at a media briefing on China-Malaysia relations and the 2012 Sessions of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Kuala Lumpur. In 2011, the two-way trade had touched a record US$90 billion with Malaysia having a US$30 billion trade surplus.

US$100 billion is about RM300.0 billion or about a quarter of our Gross Domestic Product (at purchasing power parity or "PPP" according to the CIA Factbook here). That is a lot of trade between China and Malaysia.

Here is something else. Here is an interesting book about Africa written by the acclaimed journalist and old 'Africa hand' Martin Meredith. Titled "The State of Africa" this 608 page book (available at Borders and thru Amazon.com) gives a detailed snapshot of almost every one of Africa's 47 countries - including the Hutu and Tutsi tribal divide in Rwanda - which in my view is not over yet.

(Folks, the Hutu - Tutsi divide is a huge fracture that affects not just Rwanda but a few Central African countries. Hutus form over 85% of the population in Rwanda, Burundi and also live in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Guess which is the second largest ethnic group in Rwanda and Burundi?)

Anyway in the very last chapter of this most interesting book, Martin Meredith says a few things about Chinese involvement in Africa.

In the year 2000, there were 40,000 Chinese expatriates living and working in the 47 countries of Africa (from Morocco to South Africa). The Chinese were engineers, technicians, farm managers, doctors, road and railway builders. China - Africa trade stood at US$10.0 billion.

Just 10 years later in 2010, the number of Chinese expatriates living and working in Africa had increased to 1.0 million people. In 2012 China - Africa trade should exceed US$160 billion - which is about one fifth of Africa's total trade.

Here is some history of the growth of China Africa trade :

1950 China-Africa trade volume was US$12.14 million

1960 it rose to US$100 million

1980 exceeded the US$1 billion mark.

2000 trade reached US$10 billion

2008 trade exceeded US$100 billion.

2012 it will exceed US$160 billion.

Between 2000 and 2008 the average annual growth rate of China-Africa trade reached 33.5%.

Most importantly China has achieved all this without dropping one bomb on any African village or town. Despite there being 1.0 million Chinese expatriates living and working in Africa, not one African feels that he is being colonised by China.

Among the reasons for this is because the Chinese have set up a department or unit inside their Government whose job is to study methods and recommend policy so that the Chinese are not perceived as show offs or overbearing anywhere in the world. In other words it is State policy to be humble.

So I think we really need to have more regard for the Chinese and value more their contribution to the well being of the entire world. The future belongs to China. Here is a hint : learn Chinese.

Tun Dr Mahathir : "UMNO Leaders Got No Brains"

I did not believe it either. But, reading The Star this morning, thats what he meant. Here is The Star. Read for yourself.

Dr M: Field talented outsiders

• Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has suggested that the party consider fielding talented outsiders with a clean record in the next general election.
• Umno should apply meritocracy when deciding on candidates
• “What is wrong with fielding someone from outside (the party) who is capable and free from corruption and other problems?”
• Dr Mahathir said Umno faced a scarcity of competent leaders at the top for decades due to the unwritten policy of restraining those with brains from joining the party.
• the party might face the prospect of losing if it fields incumbents who are deemed incompetent, he said.
• “.. many of our present leaders are not well-accepted by the rakyat.”
• Umno needed support from outside the party to win in the general election.

Those with brains restrained from joining the party. Incumbents are deemed incompetent. Many UMNO leaders are not well respected by the rakyat.

Wow! Go Dr Mahathir. This is so very true.

This is also the reason why the party president and Prime Minister Dato Sri Najib has to tune himself down a few notches when he addresses the UMNO crowd. Its the dimming down of UMNO. We need to talk about this some more.

I spent the whole afternoon listening to an Economic Hitman (an American professor who has frequented KL for quite a few years now - as a guest of the Gomen) trying his best to convince a quite well informed audience that our future lies with the US - minus China. He put up slide after slide showing the fantastic economic growth prospects of nearly all the countries in the Pacific Basin until 2015, if we only joined the US in some Pacific Transformation Program - minus China.

We dont even know what is going to happen tomorrow, let alone next year or in the year 2015. It is not just UMNO leaders who are not competent. I think the Americans are losing it too. However I do feel that the Gomen has been penetrated by the Americans. Otherwise we wont see so many of these Yanks strutting around trying to unload their stuff here. Just like they have penetrated the Pakatan boys as well. They place bets on all sides.

Dont know if the UMNO boys are aware of this? I dont think so. The Minister of Home Affairs says there is no proof. Then again, he is an UMNO leader.

Breaking News : The Gospel Of Peter

Folks here is breaking news, from Malaysia Today

Anwar, Quek subpoenaed over RM445m loan case

A defendant in a non-payment of loans case wants to put the then finance minister and a prominent banker on the stand as part of his defence.

(Free Malaysia Today) - The High Court today allowed an application to subpoenae Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to be a defence witness in a civil suit over a deal involving RM445 million syndicated loan facility given in 1998.

Aside from Anwar, Hong Leong Finance Bhd executive chairman Quek Leng Chan, Hamzah Harun and Mohd Faiz Abdullah (both former director and shareholder of Arus Murni Sdn Bhd) will also be served notices to appear as defence witnesses, the High Court was told today.

Do also read Another Brick In The Wall's : Opening of Anwar's Pandora Box. You will see this :

EPISODE 23: The Anwar Ibrahim-Quek Leng Chan Saga

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Tuesday, 27 March 2012

The purpose of the loan was for the purchase of Inchcape Timuran shares and to purchase Kewangan Bersatu Berhad KBB, which had a finance licence. KBB was owned by Ishak Ismail, an Anwar crony and the Umno Penang Treasurer who controlled Idris Hydraulic, another Umno company. Anwar was then the Umno Penang chief. The RM420 million was dispersed but the KBB acquisition never took place. So what happened to the money? Where was it siphoned? Who hijacked it? That is what the court case this week will establish.

And also this :

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In May 1982, the MUI Group, which is headed by Tan Sri Dato Khoo Kay Peng, acquired Kwong Lee Bank Berhad. Khoo Kay Peng was a strong ally of Tengku Tan Sri Razaleigh Hamzah (Ku Li), Malaysia’s Finance Minister from 1976 to 1984. On 2nd February 1983, Kwong Lee Bank Berhad was renamed Malayan United Bank Berhad (MUI Bank).

Those in the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (MCCM) were extremely unhappy about what they viewed as a close relationship between the Finance Minister and this Chinese business tycoon. For this reason, most members/leaders of the MCCM, who invariably were also Umno members and/or leaders, supported Musa Hitam in the tussle between Ku Li and Musa for the Umno Deputy Presidency.

The joke around town at that time was that Ku Li and ‘Ku’ Kay were brothers from different mothers and separate fathers. Because of this perception, that Ku Li was a ‘tool’ of the Chinese, in particular of Khoo Kay Peng, Ku Li twice failed in his bid for the Umno Deputy Presidency. His ‘Chinese sympathies’ lost him the Deputy Prime Ministership of Malaysia at a time when the New Economic Policy (NEP) was on its final leg and the future of the Malays was in question. Hence a more ‘Malay’ Musa Hitam was preferred over a ‘Chinese tool’. The anti-Ku Li campaign was:kalau Anak Raja naik, maka Cina akan bermaharaja di Malaysia.

Sahibul Al-Masaajidi Wal-Tokongi

These pictures are taken from here at SEL13.COM and you can read the story also at The Unspinners under this heading Majlis PAS berdoa untuk kuil dalam kuil bersama sami

These pictures appear to show some ceremony or 'perasmian' in what is obviously a temple (forgive me if I cannot differentiate between a Buddhist and a non Buddhist temple) where Chinese and Malay people are present.

In the first picture here I see two (different) religious guys in the centre. The main difference between them is the colour of their religious gear. (Remember the golden rule "no money no religion"). Under normal circumstances, one of these religious guys would label the other as sesat. I think one of them is indeed quite sesat. I will let you decide which guy that would be.

The next picture gets even more unusual - especially for the particular planet on which these pictures were taken. This picture shows an almost incredible amount of "tolerance" (excuse me - I could not find a more user friendly word just now), acceptance and understanding being exhibited here between these religious guys.

It appears that all the people in this picture are praying - inside the same temple. You can see that they are all holding their hands together in prayer.

It immediately comes to my OutSyed The Box mind that these folks may be able to achieve major cost and time savings. They may need only half the space, half the time and perhaps half the religious manpower too. All those 'time and motion studies' that I learnt in Industrial Engineering in the 1980s always made sense. Its all about saving time and motion.

Since they are all holding their hands together and also praying together, I can safely assume that they are all praying for the same thing too. More savings there as well. (I hope it is not a case of 'tidur sama bantal tapi mimpi lain-lain?)

Sadly though, I think there is a difference. One of them is pretending or acting, while the other is not. Again I will let you decide who you think is pretending aka being hypocritical. To give you a hint : one of these religious guys does not believe in apostacy. Let me confuse you just a little bit more : in other words, in his religion, you cannot be an apostate. Which coloured robe or baju is that?

Here is a group photo to commemorate the event.

Finally here is a picture of the 'guru di tokong'. He is basically saying "I am your man"

There is plenty of flexibility being shown here.

Sadly again, there are still congregations around the country who avoid mosques if they are frequented by people who support the Barisan Nasional. To them it is a sacrilege to even pray in the same mosque as BN or UMNO supporters. They may not even attend funerals of their friends, neighbours and even family members if the deceased were supporters of the BN.

Such people have no qualms showing who they really are. Just like some of the people in these pictures.