Perang Saraf Hingusan Ancam Kewibawaan PM

A Kadir Jasin

PANTUN Melayu paling indah dan bermakna dalam hal ilmu dan kebijaksanaan berbunyi:

Pergi memburu di padang datar,

Dapat rusa belang kaki;

Kalau berguru kepalang ajar,

Ibarat bunga kembang tak jadi.

Pantun nasihat itu berguna kepada kita semua dan, dalam konteks semasa amat afdal kepada pendiayah, tukang cerita dan tentera siber Perdana Menteri, Umno, Barisan Nasional dan kerajaan.

[PERINGATAN: Komen guna “Anonymous” tidak akan disiarkan. Sila guna Google Account atau Name/URL. Boleh pakai nama samaran.]

Taktik hingusan menyerang peribadi pengkritik Mohd Najib Abdul Razak dan kerajaannya tidak berkesan sebaliknya boleh menjadi senjata makan tuan.

Apatah lagi kalau peribadi Perdana Menteri, lebih rentan (vulnerable) dan mudah ditelanjangkan oleh para pengkritik beliau sebagai serangan balas.

Apa halnya kalau petugas-petugas propaganda Perdana Menteri adalah orang muda yang tohor ilmu dan tidak pun kenal siapa sebenarnya pengkritik bos mereka?

Saya yakin ramai daripada mereka, kerana muda usia dan tidak berada di tengah-tengah pergelutan politik, khususnya yang membabitkan Mohd Najib, tidak pun tahu bentuk perhubungan di antara Perdana Menteri dengan orang yang hari ini menegur beliau.

MAP Sambung Lidah PR?

Sejak beberapa bulan kebelakangan ini, sesetengah elemen dan wartawan media arus perdana (MAP), termasuk dalam kumpulan Media Prima, telah secara terbuka bertindak sebagai penyambung lidah Pakatan Rakyat, khususnya dalam membelasah (Tun ) Daim Zainuddin.

PR, terutamanya Parti Keadilan Rakyat, mempunyai agenda tersendiri memburuk-burukkan Daim. Pemuka PR  seperti (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim dan Lim Kit Siang tahu kehebatan saluran maklumat dan strategi Daim.

Mengapa tidak? Daim adalah antara orang penting memainkan peranan menaik dan menurunkan Anwar dalam politik negara.

Mereka tahu perisikan, analisis dan strategi Daim lebih hebat daripada mana-mana pihak dalam Umno dan BN.  Oleh sebab Daim tidak berminat dalam politik maka analisis dan strategi beliau adalah lebih bebas dan berkecuali.

Tambah memeningkan PR adalah hakikat bahawa Daim mempunyai perhubungan baik dengan sesetengah orang mereka sendiri.

Di kalangan penyokong dan petugas Mohd Najib pula, ramai bimbang Perdana Menteri meminta atau menerima nasihat Daim. Mereka tidak mahu kemungkinan itu berlaku kerana nasihat Daim mungkin merugikan mereka.

Jadi mereka berusaha melemahkan kredibiliti Daim dan pada masa yang sama cuba melaga-lagakan Mohd Najib dengan Daim.

Apakah para pengarang dan wartawan MAP tidak sedar matlamat tersirat PR atau mereka diarahkan menyerang Daim dengan apa cara juga, termasuk bersekongkol dengan PR?

Boleh jadi juga mereka tidak mendalami atau sengaja menidakkan perhubungan antara Mohd Najib dan Daim lantas mereka mengambil agenda PR, khususnya PKR, sebagai agenda mereka sendiri dan menyerang Daim atas tanggapan inilah yang terbaik bagi mempertahankan Mohd Najib.

Mungkin mereka tidak tahu dan PM pun tidak mahu memperbesar-besarkan keakraban beliau dengan Daim. Namun, antara yang terawal beliau hubungi selepas mendarat di Kota Bharu (dari Hawaii) ialah Daim.

Pendiayah muda PM yang kini dikatakan amat berkuasa dan kaya dengan sumber kewangan mungkin tidak tahu atau tidak sedar bahawa kalau bukan kerana orang seperti (Tun) Dr Mahathir, Daim, (Tan Sri) Sanusi Junid, (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin dan beberapa orang lagi veteran Umno, bos mereka mungkin tidak merasa menjadi PM atau tidak menjadi PM secepat itu. Malah kalau diserahkan bulat-bulat kepada (Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dan para penerajunya, ada kemungkinan Mohd Najib tidak menjadi PM.

Jadi elok para propagandis, laskar siber dan penggilap epal Mohd Najib buang dulu hingus mereka dan belajar daripada sejarah. Jangan terlalu angkuh dengan operasi gelap mereka dan dengan wang yang mereka ada untuk mengupah dan membeli.

Cerita Peribadi Siapa Lebih Sensasi?

Kalau mereka kata mereka ada maklumat “juicy” (mengiurkan) mengenai Daim atau mana-mana pengkritik bos mereka, mereka kena ingat mungkin orang ini mempunyai maklumat yang lebih menyelerakan mengenai bos mereka.

Mungkin diayah murahan mengenai para pengkritik Mohd Najib boleh merosakkan imej mereka, tetapi mereka bukan PM dan mereka pun tidak berkedudukan politik.

Tetapi cerita-cerita yang menyelerakan mengenai Mohd Najib, kalau ada, boleh menjatuhkan beliau. Setidak-tidaknya pun beliau tidak nyenyak tidur malam yang lebih teruk daripada gangguan bunyi motosikal pelumba haram seperti yang isterinya, Rosmah Mansor, ceritakan baru-baru ini.

Para pendiayah dan laskar siber wajib sedar, iaitu ketika mereka masih merangkak dalam dunia maklumat dan propaganda, para pengkritik Mohd Najib sudah pun makan sekarung garam dan kenal bos mereka dari A ke Z.

Daripada cuba membunuh pembawa khabar (the messengers) adalah lebih baik mereka tajamkan sedikit pemikiran dan jawab kritikan terhadap bos mereka satu persatu.

Kalau mereka kurang faham, biar saya beri sedikit “hint” dalam bentuk soalan, khususnya berkaitan ekonomi sebab saya yakin ramai daripada mereka tidak faham ekonomi. Antaranya:

1. Mengapakah PM tidak mengisytiharkan darurat kerana banjir besar sedangkan kerajaan mengisytiharkan darurat ketika berlaku wabak SARS pada tahun 2009 dan jerebu pada tahun 2013?

2. Bagaimanakah PM, sebagai Menteri Kewangan, hendak melestarikan (sustain) Belanjawan 2015 apabila harga minyak mentah sudah jatuh di bawah paras AS$50 setong sedangkan anggaran belanjawan adalah antara AS$100 hingga AS$105 setong?

3. Apakah laskar siber Mohd Najib peduli membaca berita ekonomi untuk mengetahui bahawa harga minyak mentah Brent yang digunakan sebagai penanda aras telah jatuh kepada AS$48.90 setong Jumaat lepas dan harga di New York jatuh kepada AS$46.85 pada hari Rabu, iaitu paras paling rendah sejak April 2009?

4. Bolehkah GST dan punca-punca lain pendapatan menampung kejatuhan hasil akibat kemerosotan harga minyak mentah yang menyumbang hampir 40% kepada perolehan kerajaan?

5. Apakah implikasi kejatuhan nilai ringgit terhadap kos import, khususnya import bahan makanan seperti beras, gandum, jagung, gula, kacang soya, susu dan daging yang bernilai lebih RM35 bilion setahun?

6. Apakah potensi inflasi import (imported inflation) ke atas harga barang pengguna akibat kejatuhan nilai ringgit?

7. Sebanyak manakah kita dapat menambah eksport negara kerana nilai ringgit jatuh dan eksport kita menjadi lebih murah?

8. Mengapakah prestasi pasaran saham kita buruk sehingga dikalahkan oleh Filipina, Indonesia dan Thailand dan banyak lagi pasaran membangun?

9. Tidak percaya tanyalah peneroka Felda atau sesiapa saja yang melabur dalam saham Felda Global Ventures Berhad. Bukankah harga saham FGVB telah merosot daripada harga IPO RM4.55 pada tahun 2012 kepada RM2.18 pada 9 Jan, kejatuhan lebih 50 peratus?

Mohd Najib "Mentor" Felda

 10. Apakah sebabnya rizab antarabangsa Bank Negara Malaysia jatuh daripada RM441.9 bilion pada akhir 2013 kepada RM405.5 bilion – merosot RM36.4 bilion- dalam masa 12 bulan hingga akhir bulan lalu?

11. Adakah Bank Negara masuk ke pasaran bagi mempertahankan nilai ringgit dan rugi?

12. Apakah akan terjadi kepada sistem perbankan negara dan penarafan antarabangsa pasaran modal kita kalau 1MDB gagal memenuhi obligasi hutangnya yang berjumlah RM42 bilion itu?

13. Apakah kesan kejatuhan nilai ringgit terhadap hutang 1MDB yang kebanyakannya dalam mata wang dolar Amerika?

Arul Kanda Kandasamy Presiden Baru 1MDB

14. Apakah tepat laporan CIMB (yang dibina oleh adik PM sendiri) pada awal bulan ini bahawa 1MDB “telah gagal” membayar balik pinjaman sebanyak RM2 bilion kepada Maybank yang sepatutnya dilakukan pada Disember lalu?

15. Apakah tepat unjuran CIMB bahawa Maybank terdedah kepada RM5.5 bilion hutang 1MDB?

16. Apakah tepat unjuran jika Maybank (milik PNB) membuat peruntukan (provision) hutang lapuk bagi tahun kewangan 2015 akibat pinjaman 1MDB keuntungan bersihnya akan merosot 5.6 peratus?

Maybank Asalnya Milik Cina Tapi Kina Aset Utama PNB

17. Adakah benar syarikat-syarikat yang menjual IPP hujung hayat kepada 1MDB belum mendapat bayaran sepenuhnya dan mempunyai opsyen membeli balik IPP itu dengan harga potongan?

18. Dan satu soalan yang mudah – mengapakah kerajaan tidak memberi penjelasan terperinci dan terus terang mengenai apa sebenarnya terjadi kepada pesawat eksekutif TUDM yang membawa PM ke Hawaii, tetapi tidak membawa beliau balik?

Para pendiayah, laskar siber PM dan kaki ampu perlu faham dan ada keutamaan. Yang hendak dipertahankan adalah PM – peribadi beliau, dasar beliau, prestasi beliau dan kesesuaian beliau untuk terus memerintah.

Peribadi, dasar, prestasi dan kesesuaian beliau untuk terus memerintah tidak akan menjadi bertambah baik dengan membunuh pembawa khabar ngeri.

Atau apakah pendiayah, laskar siber dan pengampu PM mempunyai agenda sendiri yang mirip sokong bawa rebah dan gunting dalam lipatan?

Perdana Menteri wajib berhati-hati terhadap musuh dalam selimut yang mendakap dan menggosok belakang beliau, tetapi di tangan keris terhunus.

Wallahuaklam.

Si Luncai Berjumpa Don Quixote

A Kadir Jasin

[Komen “Anonymous” tidak akan disiarkan. Dalam blog kita ini, pembahas WAJIB ada nama. Nama samaran dan nama pena pun tak apa. Angka pun boleh. Guna nama sendiri macam saya lagilah bagus.]

SI LUNCAI terserempak dengan Don Quixote (ki-ho-teh). Setelah masing-masing memperkenalkan diri mereka pun bertukar-tukar cerita.

Don Quixote: Saya dengar tuan terjun ke sungai dengan labu-labu dan orang berteriak, “biarkan, biarkan”. Betul begitu?

Si Luncai:  Betul. Yang mereka maksudkan itu bukan buah labu untuk dimakan tetapi kendi labu untuk mengisi air. Kendi labu itu milik saya bukan milik orang lain. 

Kendi labu boleh dijadikan pelampung

Don Quixote: Kenapa tuan terjun sungai dan tidak lemas pula?

Si Luncai: Saya dihukum raja kerana memberitahu baginda kepalanya yang dogol mengingatkan saya kepada ayah saya yang sudah meninggal dunia. Baginda murka dan menitahkan hamba dibuang ke laut.

 Don Quixote: Tetapi tuan hamba tidak mati lemas?

Si Luncai: Saya bukan orang cerdik, tapi saya belajar daripada pengalaman. Saya tidak lemas sebab saya guna kendi labu sebagai pelampung.

Don Quixote:  Oh! Jadi tidak tepatlah gambaran tuan seorang bodoh dan bangang?

Si Luncai: Bangsa saya ada peribahasa berbunyi, hanya mutu mengenal manikam dan satu ungkapan berbunyi raja adil raja disembah, raja zalim raja disanggah. Tuan pula saya dengar bertarung dengan kincir angin?

Don Quixote: Benar. Saya seorang pahlawan setia dari negara Sepanyol. Saya bertarung dengan kincir angin kerana ia adalah gergasi yang sangat ganas!

Kerana khayal Don Quixote Bertarung dengan kincir angin

 Si Luncai: Tapi kincir angin bukan gergasi. Ia jentera untuk mengepam air mengelak banjir.

Don Quixote: Itu kata tuan, tetapi sebagai pahlawan setia adalah tugas saya mengalahkan musuh biar siapa sekali pun mereka!

Kesimpulannya, pilihlah yang mana satu kita hendak jadi. Si Luncai yang disangka dangkal tetapi berfikiran tajam atau Don Quixote yang berkhayal menjadi perwira tetapi tenggelam dalam angan-angan?

Dalam adat resam Melayu, raja atau pemerintah yang adil ditaati manakala yang zalim dan melanggar hukum ditentang.

Nota Kaki: Saya diperkenalkan kepada cerita The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha ketika di sekolah menengah pada tahun 1960-an oleh guru bahasa Melayu saya. Berapa ramai agaknya guru bahasa Melayu sekarang yang baca cerita Don Quixote dan Si Luncai?

Wallahuaklam.

Banjir is the Watershed for Change

A Kadir Jasin

[NO anonymous comments will be published.  Please use Google Account, OpenID or Name/URL. Pseudonym is accepted. Thank you]

DEBATER Ismail Muda, commenting in the previous post, had the following to say – “Dari sudut politik, kita amat berharap akan muncul pemimpin baru yg lebih berwawasan berkaliber dan penuh tanggongjwab membetulkan segala kepesongan.”

Translated, it says, from the political angle, we are very hopeful that a new leader with calibre, vision and sense of responsibility will emerge to put right all the wrong.

I am afraid his statement typifies the dissatisfaction of many Malaysians with the leadership of Prime Minister, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak and his merry men and women - not all but many.

The “banjir besar” could have been the ultimate opportunity for them to rise to the challenge and prove to the people far and wide that they are concerned and capable.

Instead the Prime Minister himself had chosen to put his so-called “golf diplomacy” with US President Barrack Obama ahead of the flood victims and played hide and seek with the rakyat on the whereabouts of the government jet he used to travel to Hawaii and also the whereabouts of his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

On the positive side, despite the extent of the floods the lost of lives had been minimal. More people died in a New Year stampede in China! Still the lost of properties, sources of income and economic opportunities are significant and will take time to recover.

The Malays have a saying that “sekali air bah, sekali pasir berubah.” It means, each time it floods the sandbank would move.

If that saying holds true, I believe the wave of change will only get stronger. Umno has to do something about its President and Prime Minister if it wants to stop the situation from getting worse. Like the sandbank, it could be swept away the next general elections.

The big floods may be the watershed that we are hoping for. They may spell the beginning of the end of a mediocre leadership. That old Malay wisdom about the banjir and the pasir could very well have a literal meaning for Mohd Najib.

The Beginning of the End?

It is a watershed and an ominous one when the rakyat, through the blogs, the independent news portal and the social media outlets, discovered that the PM was golfing in Hawaii while a quarter million people were flooded out of their homes, they asked, does the PM care?

No amount of explanations and attempts to gloss over the Hawaiian misstep by his propaganda machines will restore the Prime Minister’s image as a caring leader. His “rakyat didahulukan” (people first) slogan is a sham.

His RM500-million allocation and the speeding up of 1Malaysia People Assistance (BR1M) may help to mend fences with the rural poor but is unlikely to appease his critics and detractors.

His psychological warfare onslaught is farcical. For instance, in calling for his ministers, who were also holidaying abroad, to come home, the Prime Minister was proving the social media right that some members of his cabinet were more concerned with their holidays than the well being of the people who elected them.

In seeking to placate the people, the PM is clearly being poorly advised his psychological warfare specialists, of whom we know there are many. The instruction to his holidaying ministers to come home should not have been made public. It makes it to sounds like “bapa borek anak rintik” – like father like son.

         

For Umno and the Barisan Nasional, a change has to happen. If it does not happen, the situation can only get worse and the grand old coalition may finally succumb to old age.

Like the Romans who had to choose between Caesar and Rome, the time has come for Umno and BN to choose between Mohd Najib and Putrajaya.

The Buck Stops with the PM

NO matter how we look at the handling of the big floods in particular and the administration of the country in general, we have to be very clear that the buck stops with the Prime Minister.

We cannot hope to have a motivated, committed and transparent civil service, the police, the military and, above all, the populace if the man at the top does not display the same motivation, commitment and transparency.

Can the “golf diplomacy” not wait? Would Obama be fuming mad if Mohd Najib told him that he could not come because his country is suffering big floods?

How many more disasters and tragedies do we need before we dare judge our government, our leaders and our Prime Minister and say, enough is enough?

Just ask ourselves do we still believe in “Malaysia Boleh”? Does people first, performance now slogan has any meaning?

By the look of things, the future does not hold great promise for the rakyat jelata if this situation continues. And unless Umno and the BN have lost all sensibilities and bearings, they would by now know that the future does not hold a great promise for them either.

They can pretend and continue to be in a state of denial, but the record of the last few years does not speak well of their performance and their endearment with the rakyat.

The Heavy Price of Denial

I am sorry to have to say this. Umno and BN can keep the PM and pretend that everything in fine, but they must accept the fact that the risk of them being chucked out at the next GE is immense.

The Pakatan Rakyat parties do not have to do much. They just need to keep their internal differences in check and stop washing dirty linen in public.

If they stop quarrelling about ideologies and stop being egotistical maniacs, they stand a good chance of keeping their 52% popular votes and probably get more in the coming polls.

In simple language, all that the PR has to do is keep its nose clean and hope that no positive changes happen in the leadership of the BN and the government.

Do not underestimate the voters’ desire for change. The tumbling support for the BN since the 2008 GE suggests that this trend is gaining momentum.

BN should realise that it has not only lost the popular votes but also the battle of words. It propaganda machines have lost the war with the social media.

Also, the PR has many more younger and smarter leaders than the ageing BN parties. Can we name more future Umno/BN leaders other than Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wee Ka Siong?

Do not forget that the young people who are joining the rank electorates are the prime movers of social media and the BN is a poor second in the use of this new communication tool.

For Umno, do not forget that the most numbers of unregistered voters are Malays and Umno is trailing the DAP in enticing young people to register as voters.

The era of strong leaders like (Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad and late (Tun) Abdul Razak Hussein is over for Umno. The survival of the party, for now, appears to rest on collective leadership, which Mohd Najib has failed to put together.

This is because, from the start, he fashioned himself as a president not a prime minister. He does things not in consultation with the party and the civil service.

Instead he surrounds himself with presidential-type councils, committees, advisors, consultants and special officers many of whom are not government servants but having access to confidential materials and state secrets.

And may be Mohd Najib’s earliest mentor (at Petronas), the Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, is entirely correct, when he said Malaysia may be heading into a new year but we have deviated from the path of progress, and instead has been set back several decades.

In his New Year message, the former Finance Minister said, 2014 had been a “horrible year” but the future does not look bright particularly because of worsening racial and religious politics.

Wallahuaklam.

Bidding Farewell to Year of Tragedies

A Kadir Jasin

[NO anonymous comments will be published.  Please use Google Account, OpenID or Name/URL. Pseudonym is accepted. Thank you]

THANK you for debating on the subject “Negara Banjir, PMBergolf di Hawaii”. Please continue.

In the meantime, let us also look back at the year that is about to end and see what is install for us in the New Year.

We may not like, but 2014 will go down in history as probably the most tragic and problematic year for us since Merdeka in 1957.

When we started the year, we thought that the attack on Sabah by the Moro gunmen in early 2013 was the worst that could happen to us. The handling of that incident did not make us particularly proud or confident.

Then came the sad morning of March 8 when a Malaysia Airline’s Boeing 777 jetliner operating as MH370 went missing. It is still not found nine months later.

Two hundred and thirty nine souls were on board as it left KLIA for Beijing on what was otherwise a routine medium-haul flight filled with returning Chinese tourists disappeared into thin air.

MH370 Missing Without A Trace Since March

 Then, just four months later on July 17, another MAS jetliner - MH17 was shot down over Ukraine killing all 283 people on board.

The lightning, in the case of luckless MAS, did strike twice and at the same spot. The airline had since became theoretically bankrupt and had to be rescued by its majority owner Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

MH17 - Malaysia's image lies in tatters

 Added to these tragedies were other equally burdensome events like the plunging crude petroleum, palm oil and rubber prices, the rising cost of living and growing political discontent, communalism and religious intolerance.

With the weakening of commodity prices and the fall in the demand for our commodities and manufactured goods by the global market, the ringgit’s exchange rates took a tumble.

Our currency was the worst performing emerging Asian currency so far this year with a 6.1 per cent loss against the dollar, according to Thomson Reuters data. Our stock market too lagged behind regional compatriots.

Rubber Smallholders: Backbreaking task for pittance

When the ringgit falls, our imports automatically become more costly. We are a big importer of foodstuff. Sooner or later, the higher import prices will be transferred to the consumers thereby translating them into imported inflation.

And now it looks like we are bidding farewell to 2014 and ushering in 2015 soaked in the worse floods in our country’s recent history.

The floods only worsen the rakyat’s hardship inspite of the RM500-million assistance announced by Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak upon his hush return from conducting a “golf diplomacy” with the US President Barrack Obama in Hawaii.

On lap of luxury board: PM consulting on floods

The floods claimed not only lives but also destroyed personal belongings and livelihood of the victims. Rebuilding lives will take time and money. The rain and the floods mean rubber trees could not be tapped and palm oil fruits could not be harvested – a double whammy for the smallholders who are already suffering low commodity prices.

Come April we will have to face the GST whose effects nobody is sure of. Even the government is not able to give a definite answer as to the extent of price changes – up and down - the new tax will generate. In the meantime, producers and consumers are engaged in the game of wait-and-see, which will impact the economy in the short to medium term.

Oh, don’t forget the repeated landslides and flash floods up in the mountains at Cameron Highlands, which our brilliant officialdom had squarely blamed on the immigrant workers while turning blind eye to the scheming by the “pembesar”, the civil servants and the taukehs who misused and abused their power for the sake of money.

Cameron's floods: Blame it on immigrant workers

Call all these bad luck, bad feng shui, God’s wrath and punishment, but at the end of the day we suffer – physically, emotionally and image wise. Today, whenever a bad thing happens, the international media seek to link it to us.

So when a tragedy involving an Indonesian Air Asia Airbus A320 happened over the Java Sea on Dec. 28, the Associated Press headlined: “This Has Been A Historically Bad Year For Malaysian Air Travel” and another said: "Missing flight is 3rd Malaysia-linked incident". We have become synonymous with bad things and bad news.

In trying to justify and to come to term with these tragedies and problems, we have to look at ourselves and at the people whom we had elected to lead us.

Did they do a good job at stopping all these bad things from happening – those that are within their powers - and when these bad things happened did they do a good job at lessening our sufferings and predicaments?

We can blame it on takdir and on fate, but that’s for divinity to decide. As human beings and as Malaysians, we have to say that the buck stops somewhere here on earth.

And if we have a responsible government, the buck stops with it. But there’s a caveat. We the rakyat are the judges. We have to judge our government. Otherwise those self-aggrandizing politicians and civil servants will continue to award themselves with sterling KPIs while we suffer.

Tragedies and disasters: Cry the little people

 Wallahuaklam.

Negara Banjir, PM Bergolf Di Hawaii

A Kadir Jasin

[Komen “Anonymous” tidak akan disiarkan. Dalam blog kita ini, pembahas WAJIB ada nama. Nama samaran dan nama pena pun tak apa. Angka pun boleh. Guna nama sendiri macam saya lagilah bagus.]

MUTAKHIR, 27 Dis – MOHD Najib umum bantuan tambahan RM500 juta untuk bantu mangsa banjir di seluruh negara yang akan diuruskan oleh Majlis Keselamatan Negara dan percepatkan bayaran BR1M.

Mohd Najib melawat mangsa banjir di Kelantan

Original Post

 

NEGARA Banjir. Laporan terakhir lebih 90,000 terpaksa berpindah. Perdana Menteri bermain golf di Hawai dengan Presiden Amerika.

Adakah PM kita akan sambut 2015 di luar negara lagi?

Jadi “songsanglah” maklumat SMS pemuda harapan bangsa (PHB) di JPM yang memberitahu pada 15 Disember:  “Salam Datuk, rancangan cuti itu belum muktamad lagi...” dan separuh betullah khabar SMS ketua media PM yang berbunyi “…End of the year taking a break” tanpa menyebutkan di dalam atau luar negara.

Malaysian Insider memetik akhbar The Washington Post sebagai berkata Mohd Najib Abdul Razak adalah antara empat orang, termasuk Obama, yang bermain golf di Pangkalan Pasukan Marin Amerika di Teluk Kanehoe, Hawaii. [Kaki golf boleh baca di sini].

Negara Banjir PM Bergolf di Hawaii

Mungkin ini sebahagian daripada kunjungan minta ampun setelah beliau dibelasah oleh diplomat dan media massa Amerika kerana membatalkan cadangan beliau memansuhkan Akta Hasutan.

Tidak perlulah minta ampun atau minta persetujuan Obama atau mana-mana pemimpin dunia untuk memerintah negara. Atau apakah zaman menghantar bunga emas kepada kuasa besar berulang semula?

Kembali di tanah air, Bernama melaporkan 90,250 telah dipindahkan akibat banjir besar di Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang (negeri Mohd Najib), Perak dan Perlis.

Kemanan ditenggelami banjir

Seramai 32,343 di Kelantan diikuti Terengganu (28,991), Pahang (24,316), Perak (4,335) and Perlis (265).
 
Kata Bernama, inilah banjir paling teruk di Kelantan dalam ingatan. Banjir paling teruk sebelum ini berlaku di Lembah Kelang pada tahun 1971.

Pelancong British turut jadi mangsa banjir - Daily Telegraph, UK

Kerajaan telah membuat peruntukan RM50 juta untuk negeri-negeri terbabit, mengikut Menteri Kewangan Kedua, Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

Adakah PM kita itu akan terus berada di luar negara sehingga tahun baru atau akan pulang menyertai rakyat jelata yang dilanda dan dihimpit pelbagai mala petaka dan musibah?

Junjung kasih kepada Sultan Perak kerana menitahkan agar Krismas disambut sederhana di negari baginda sebagai tanda simpati  kepada mangsa banjir.

Wallahuaklam.

To Be beggars or Not, Is The Question

A Kadir Jasin

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ARE Malay political parties beggars as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had alleged on Dec. 20?

He said, in vying for support among the Malays they stripped the community of power and turned themselves into “beggars” to the Chinese.

The former Prime Minister said the contest among the three Malay-based – Umno, PAS and Keadilan - meant that Malay votes were split into three, forcing them to woo non-Malay support in order to secure the numbers necessary to rule and consequently placing real power in the hands of the minority communities.

He added that Umno, PAS and Keadilan (PKR) are all begging the Chinese to support them at the general elections in order to win.

“And when we are the pengemis (beggars), we are not the powerful ones anymore,” he said in a speech at the Nusantara Youth Convention in Kuala Lumpur.

The answer to the question whether Malay political parties are beggars is yes and no. By the look of things, the one that is really begging for Chinese and Indian votes is Umno.

The Umno-led Barisan Nasional was the one that was rejected by the Chinese in last year’s general elections. Despite fashioning himself as the Prime Minister for all and buttering the Chinese with gifts of money and entertainment, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak was resoundingly and was unequivocally rejected by them.

In the Pakatan Rakyat, the begging by the Malay-dominated parties, if any, is less obvious. This is partly because there is no dominant party in the pact. It is a partnership of equals. The PKR, DAP and PAS are of equal strength.

The Malays Are Strong?

Dr Mahathir’s assertion was rebutted by the DAP MP for Bukit Bendera, Zairil Khir Johari, who said that the Malay control of public spheres is now at its peak.

He expressed disbelief and dismay over what he called Dr Mahathir’s exercise in deception.

“Politically, every significant government post, from the prime minister of the Federation to 12 out of the 13 state chief ministers, is held by Malays.

“Malay dominance is also very visible in other institutions of state, such as the judiciary, the police force, the civil service and the army,” he said.

As I have argued repeatedly for decades, the power of the Malays rests with their number. Being in the majority and united, they controlled politics.

Political control is important to the Malays because they are not on control of the economy. I am speaking in past tense because I am not anymore sure if the Malays still control politics, despite Zairil’s assertion.

If were count the number of Malays in the Dewan Rakyat and the state legislative assemblies irrespective their party affiliation, we can say that the Malays still dominate. Out of 222 members in the Dewan Rakyat, 157 are Malays-Bumiputeras.

So, politically the Malays still dominate by way of arithmetic. But do they lead the debate and set the agenda? I am not sure.

Whether they have to beg other races in order to hang on to power or to win power is an open debate. Since the 2008 general elections, it is Umno that appears to be begging.

This is also one of the reasons putting Mohd Najib at odd with members and supporters of his own party. He is portraying himself as being desperate for non-Malay support, especially Chinese, at the expanse of the Malays.

But all his strategies in this direction had not produced results. The Chinese rejected Ajid Gor resoundingly during the 2013 GE, prompting him to blame the BN’s dismal performance on the “Tsunami Cina”.

In the present situation, the Malays are neither here nor there. The tree-way split has forced all the Malay-based parties to appeal (beg) to the Chinese to stay in power or to take over power.

Being used to enjoying the support of the non-Malays for so long, the BN is the one that is more desperate. If it continues to lose non-Malay support and the younger Malays continue to lean towards the PR, the BN could find itself on the opposite side of the House in the coming GE.

Are the Malays Economic Beggars Too?

Economically, despite the best efforts of the NEP and its successor policies the Malays are still lagging behind the Chinese and Indians.

The game of catching up that the NEP had intended to achieve had not succeeded. Bulk of the expenditures spent to eradicate poverty irrespective of race and to restructure society went to the Chinese long before the Bumiputeras felt their effects.

Maybe the Malays are not begging the Chinese as clearly in the economic sphere as they are in politics. But we cannot also deny the intricate interdependence between the Chinese and the Malays in the economy.

The Malays are producers and consumers. The Chinese are the middlemen and traders. The Malays are not consummate consumers. As such whatever is recommended to them by Chinese traders they will buy even at the risk borrowing at exorbitant interest rates.

Remember the stories of Malay rubber smallholders buying refrigerators during the Korean War rubber boom in the early 1950’s even though they had no electricity at home? They apparently used the refrigerators as cupboards.

They are still buying refrigerators and many more electrical goods from the Chinese at exorbitant interest rates. But they are also buying those big noisy exhaust pipes and strobe lights to fix to their ageing Proton Saga because the Chinese workshop operators say these accessories are good and make their cars run faster. In short, the Chinese sell, the Malays buy.

So the practice of “padi kunca” and other forms of consumption loans continues. The end result is this - the Malays own the land but its economic ownership is with the Chinese.

I have no answer to this. With the death of the rural economic institutions like the syarikat kerjasama (cooperative societies), cooperative shops and the rural rice mills, the Malay grass root business activities are now confined to the pasar mini, pasar malam, pasar tani, pekan sehari and roadside stalls. And their dependence on the Chinese increases.

Off course the NEP had enlarged Malay professional class. But they are limited to the government sector. Without government contracts and employment, very few can hope to make the grade.

It is for this reason that I tentatively support Mohd Najib’s call to the corporate sector in April to have better representation of gender, ethnicity and age in their employment. He wanted them produce sustainability reports that include workforce composition detailing ethnicity, age and gender.

But call alone is not enough. The PM must show that he means business. Show us the results. If he wants us to believe in his 1Malaysia, he must make sure that the Bumiputera economy is integrated into the national economy.

It is a recipe for failure once again if we continue to detach the Bumiputera economy from the overall economy. Bumiputera economy is too small to be sustainable and competitive.

The recently released reports by the Khazanah Research Institute and the UNDP amply show the dire circumstances the Bumiputeras and other poor Malaysians.

I hope, in between the urge to globe-trot and fiery speeches, the Prime Minister stays home and do the needful for the sake of the country and the people. The outlook for the coming year is frighteningly bleak.

Wallahuaklam.

Gurindam Seloka Penghibur Lara

A Kadir Jasin

[Komen “Anonymous” tidak akan disiarkan. Dalam blog kita ini, pembahas WAJIB ada nama. Nama samaran dan nama pena pun tak apa. Angka pun boleh. Guna nama sendiri macam saya lagilah bagus.]

LAMA sudah kita tidak berseloka. Melepas rindu mengubat duka. Dalam Malaysia kita, Tanah Melayu tercinta, macam-macam ada.

Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman orang terbuka. Kalau bercakap jelas dan nyata. Kepada pemerintah dia berkata, cakaplah benar jangan berdusta. Maka murkalah para pembesar. Kerana peluru terkena sasar.

Itulah juga yang saya katakan. Khabar baik jangan diada-adakan. Berita buruk jangan disembunyikan. Rakyat jelata tidak bangang. Merekalah yang rasa susah dan senang.

Harga getah jatuh merudum. Pekebun kelapa sawit pun dah lama tak senyum. Penanam pada lebih-lebihlah lagi.

Dari dulu sampai kini. Kais pagi makan pagi. Sampaikan Felda Global pun dah mula rugi.

Ramai dok kutuk Ibrahim Ali. Melayu Cina kepadanya tabur benci. Mengata mengumpat berguni-guni. Tapi nak jawab hujah dia, tak berapa mengerti.

Kalau Tok Him satu duit tak guna, pasal apa puluh ribu Melayu ikut dia? Dia bukan ada kuasa. Dia pun bukan orang kaya. Dia tak bagi Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia. Tapi orang totok serta profesor, berduyun-duyun ikut dia.

Cakap Tok Him orang ramai peduli. Sebab dah tak percaya YB dan Menteri. Jadi jangan dok asyik nak perli-perli. Silap-silap YB hilang kerusi sebab rakyat tak undi.

PM pun kenalah berhati-hati. Jangan dok asyik nak pergi bercuti. Sambut tahun baru di luar negeri. Ada orang dia kata, belum tentu PM bercuti di luar negara. Masih berfikir dan berkira-kira. Sebab blogger dah mula tanya.

Berkenaan Mukhriz saya tak terkejut. Jawatan dalam MKT dah kena lucut. Dengar cerita di Kedah serabut. Sesama Umno depa dok berebut. Tapi orang PM kata, cerita itu fitnah semata-mata. Dalam MKT Mukhriz masih ada.

Mukhriz rampas Kedah dari Pas. Takkanlah jawatan dia mereka nak rampas? Kalau Presiden buat juga, nampak dia cari bahaya. Silap-silap Kedah Pas tawan semula. Jadi fikirlah sebelum buat apa-apa.

Di Selangor lain pula cerita. Dalam PRU BN menderita. Cakap besar tak terkata. PM percaya sangatlah “gumbira”. Bila bilang undi tinggal 12 kerusi saja. Mohd Najib kata dia malu tidak terkira. Tapi kong kali kong sama saja. Noh Omar tetap ketua.

KLIA 2 berlopak-lopak. Semua yang tengok tentu nampak. Inilah akibat pilih kontraktor haprak. Tapi jangan buat apa-apa. Dalam lopak boleh bela keli dan tilapia. MAHB boleh buat untung segera. Extraordinary income kata jurukira. Semua orang bertepuk gembira. Itulah standard KPI kita.

Banyak lagi yang boleh dicerita. Tanah runtuh dan mala petaka. Yang kena tangkap pendatang dan pekerja. Tauke besar bebas juga. Pegawai kanan buat macam biasa. Rasuah dan salah guna kuasa tetap berleluasa. Tunjuk simpati di bibir saja.

Wallahuaklam, susah kita nak kata.

Umno Leader Lodges Police Report Against 1MDB

A Kadir Jasin

[NO anonymous comments will be published.  Please use Google Account, OpenID or Name/URL. Pseudonym is accepted. Thank you]

THE 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s saga took a sensational and potentially dangerous twist today when an Umno deputy divisional leader from Penang lodged a police report against it.

The Batu Kawan Umno deputy divisonal chief (Datuk Seri) Khairuddin Abu Hassan made the complaint at the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur. Read at Apanama.

Khairuddin speaking to the Press after making the report.

 Sources say a similar complaint with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission may follow.

More to come.

Wallahuaklam.

[CONTINUATION]

1MDB, in a statement, welcomes the police report. It says: “We are aware that a police report concerning 1MDB was filed earlier today by a politician in Penang. We have not seen any documentation related to this, so are unaware of the nature of the complaint.

"However, we are confident that it will have no legal basis. We welcome any investigation into our affairs and the opportunity to rebut malicious allegations.”

The Implications

A veteran lawyer who represented Umno and the government in many legal and constitutional cases said such a complaint is likely to be investigated under the purview of criminal breach of trust (CBT).

I am not sure how the “bangang” bloggers would react to the report. “Bangang” (stupid) was the term used by Umno President and Prime Minister, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, to describe Umno-sponsored bloggers who attacked Umno leaders instead of the opposition.

The police report is the culmination of weeks of controversies surrounding the so-called sovereign fund.

On Dec 4, the company’s top-level delegation led by its Chairman, (Tan Sri) Lodin Wok Kamaruddin was said to have been grilled by (Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Others in the delegation were board member (Tan Sri) Ismee Ismail and Chief Operating Officer, Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman. Ismee is also Executive Director and CEO of Tabung Haji.

Just over a week later, on Dec 10, the cabinet in its weekly meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister, (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin, also discuss the 1MDB issue. Mohd Najib was away on official visit to South Korea..

Sources said Dr Mahathir grilled the 1MDB team on the company’s modus operandi. He is said to be curious about the way the company funds its businesses, bearing in mind that it has a paid-up capital of only US$1 million (about RM3.4 million).

As of March this year, it has amassed assets worth RM51.4 billion and in the process piled up liabilities – mostly borrowings – totalling RM49.1 billion.

It registered a loss of RM665.3 million for the same period mainly due to staggering finance costs of RM2.4 billion compared with RM1.6 billion the previous financial year.

The Overpriced Penang Purchases

They were also asked about the price of two pieces of land in Penang for which the company was said to have paid way over the market price. Six days before last year’s General Elections, 1MDB bought the land for about RM1.4 billion from two Chinese tycoons.

Reports say, the land they purchased for RM400 million from Farlim Berhad are currently occupied by squatters and may be costly to resettle.

Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, was quoted as saying that 1MDB paid way above market rate. He asked: “Why was the purchase price at RM1.38 billion – 95pc higher than what some of the land was valued at, just two years earlier in December 2011?”

The company is also said to have purchased a third and final piece of land on September 23.

The source said Dr Mahathir feels obliged to take up the matter with 1MDB and to speak openly on the subject because many parties had come to see him to inform him about the goings-on in the company.

He was disappointed that issues surrounding 1MDB was not seriously discussed by delegates at last month’s Umno General Assembly.

How could they when Umno President and Prime Minister is the man behind 1MDB and resolutions on the economy were drafted for the debaters?

Prime Minister’s right hand man, (Tan Sri) Jamaluddin Jarjis inspired the speeches. The debaters were literally ordered to read the texts he and his team - including key officers from Khazanah Nasional Berhad – wrote.

A Meeting With The Governor

Other sources told me that the 1MDB team also had a meeting with the Bank Negara Governor, (Tan Sri) Zeti Aktar Aziz) about the company’s borrowings.

But when my reporter asked an officer in the bank’s strategic communication department, she said they do not have a clue about the meeting, insisting that they do not know anything.

The sources said 1MBD had requested Bank Negara to extend it non-performing loan (NPL) period from three to six months and was agreed to.

It is understandable. No matter how unhappy Zeti might have been with 1MDB borrowing, an extension is needed. If it was not given, there would have been a massive default and Tier 1 banks that extended the loans would have to make huge provisions. This could lead to the downgrading of the local banking system.

1MDB’s ability to keep to the extended period, according to one source, depends largely on whether it will or can bring home the RM7 billion it parked in the Cayman Islands before the last GE.

The New Straits Times today reported that 1MDB has postponed the sale of up to RM8.4 billion sukuk (Islamic) bonds to next year. It said the delay came as the company is seeking an extension of two months on the construction of the US$3.2 billion (RM11.2 billion) power plant it won with partner, Mitsui & Co. earlier in the year.

Sources said some very harsh words and frightening warnings like “somebody is going to jail” were uttered at the meetings. One source said at the meeting with Bank Negara, Lodin had offered to resign immediately. But that is not the concern of Bank Negara. Lodin was appointed by the PM. If it is true that he offered to resign, he should tell that to Mohd Najib.

Wallahuaklam.