•  In the first part of my write up, I wrote on the Accountability which is the second component of PR motto. Today I will address the issue of competency which is the first of the three motto of PR. A competent government is a government that is able to run things efficiently and the effect can be felt when ordinary people is dealing with the various state government agencies. Both the Penang and Selangor government claims that they are competent. Maybe both governments should commission an independent audit to look into this matter and present it the stakeholder i.e. the rakyat on the differences in competency before and after 2008. At the same time we must take note that the AG has given very good rating to both the government.

•  Before anyone accuses me of being UMNO lap dog for attacking PR, please take note that my opinion has always been that people interest should be the centre stage of any political battle. I speak my mind out of love of the people and not about hatred against any PR representatives. It is an open secret that I don’t think very highly of Azmin Ali as an ADUN or MP based on my assessment where service to the people is concern. The way I see it, he is NATO i.e. No action, talk only which is no different than those loud peddlers in the night market. When people in dire straits need help, they don’t want to hear empty promises. They don’t like to hear; “saya akan arahkan MPAJ”, when clearly when the ADUN has no authority to “arah” or “saya akan pastikan” when the ADUN don’t explain on how he plans to “pastikan (ensure)”. The other thing that pissed me off when ADUN would say “saya akan desak..”. Desak? For god sake, when the ADUN is part of the government of the day and we don’t expect you to ‘desak”. The people are “terdesak” and they have been “mendesak”. We expect the ADUN to do something that is objective and clear. We live in the 21^st century and the people no longer have appetite for such vague responses. They had enough of such responses before 308 and would expect a change after 308. Unfortunately this did not happen.

•  Let us look at SSG. Since 308,  the local council member has been elected from their political nominees. For the record they did not fulfilled their promises on local government election (which I accept their reasons for it but cannot accept their lack of creativity in handling the matter.) How many of us know that in several local council in Selangor, the state has failed to nominate people before the end of the term. In fact the current council member’s term has been extended. For 3 years in a row they have not been nominating council members on time. Is this a hallmark of a competent government? We all know that council members suppose to serve for a period of 12 months and subject to re-nomination. Why such a simple thing cannot be done?  Already election cannot be done and simple thing like planning and coordination also cannot be done efficiently. Isn’t it embarrassing to acclaimed  that one is competent when in actual fact it is not?

• In the case of DAP, the constitution clearly says that it is open to Malaysian of all races. To be considered a multiracial party, there is no minimum number of any ethnic group is required. There is no denying that ethnic Chinese and Indian dominate the party but there are scores of Malay members. To label DAP as not a multiracial party is unfair as it has members from every ethnic group. Unless there are proof that party has rejected any application by any quarters on the basis of ethnicity, then it would not be fair to label the party as non multiracial.

• What need to be question is why the Malays are not joining DAP in droves? The reason is very clear. From the day they were formed after the split with PAP of Singapore in 1965, BN has been labeling them negatively. In fact at one stage the government was able to associate the opposition (particularly DAP) as close as pariahs or as untouchable as the communist. The effect can be seen with a simple survey on what the suburbs people think of the DAP. Many of the elder people that I talked to feels exactly as I what had described. It is sad to see that  DAP has become the victim of negative indoctrination by the government. Being the  remnant group of the original PAP in Singapore, they were further marginalized.

• I don’t know what criteria others used in deciding the political party that they want to join. I would look at the objectives and the selection process of the office bearers. If the objectives is not about Malaysia first and the structure and election process are done in such a way that it is protective of the incumbent position than I would not join such a party. I would not join any political party that uses ethnicity or religion as the criteria of membership.

• I saw the video. It clearly shows that a private event was being held. It also shows the disgrace action of some Malays wearing BN t-shirts taking laws into their own hands. There evidence is on YouTube. The picture of the perpetrators can be seen clearly. It should not be difficult for the police to act. Evidence is available on silver platter. It is my expectation that the police to take a decisive action. Any failure on the part of the Selangor police would lead to unnecessary reaction which would further damage the government reputation.

• I quote Haris Ibrahim in his post where said, “Rest assured, we will be well prepared for any lawlessness at our forthcoming ceramah”. I feel that based on the initial reaction of the RMP, his statement is justified. In fact everyman deserves to protect themselves when threatened. It is only natural. Going by the situation, if the police fail to react and if there is another similar commotion elsewhere, I expect serious confrontation and consequences. If that happens, then no one other than police should take the blame.

Image of head honcho shown below is  from : http://kafesantai.blogspot.com/

I am a frequent business traveller that takes me to most part of the world. Allow me to share with you the shortcomings within our public transport system in respect to other countries around the world. It pains me whenever I compare our public transport system here with those in other countries. The level of service is poor, safety is compromised most of the time and most disappointing is fleecing take place in brought day light.

Last Friday, I had returned from one of my business trip. The excellent service from KLIA to KL Sentral ends upon our arrival at KL Sentral. There were plenty of cabs but all parked and the drivers were hanging around in Sentral. The ticket counter put up a sign that the waiting time is about 45 minutes. The government says there are 35,000 taxis in Klang Valley. I don’t see a single one that is ready to serve.  The counter clerk told me that there is an Executive limo service that can take me to my office for the price of RM300. He had probably thought that I am a tourist.

I decided to take the LRT to KLCC and hope to catch a cab from there to my office. It was my horror to see that the Sentral atrium is packed. People are not able to walk safely and freely. Whatever little space there is has been rented out to business. There is a booth in every nook and corner. What will happen if someone shouts fire? There will be stampede and many will die. There is a total disregard to convenience and public safety. I had to struggle with my luggage from the ERL station to the Putra LRT line. Is everything about business? Are the owners of the station allowed to do this without considering public safety? Did they get the relevant approvals like those from DOSH or Bomba? Is KL Sentral a shopping mall or a central station? Isn’t there enough crowded shopping malls in the Klang Valley. The scene at KL Sentral was like those in Carrefour Wangsa Maju or Tesco Ampang where walkways have been filled with carts and mobile stores. The authority must act before things get out of hand? The management of KL Sentral must not be allowed to continue to do things as they wish.

I do hope the authority take heed of my email. The recent fire of the partially completed shell tower at KL Sentral should be a warning to us. KL Sentral is crowded and poorly planned with poor egress network. If tragedy happens, people will die. The question is how many thousands? Who should be made answerable when that happens? I will make SPAD accountable because they have been warned.

• We must accept that the court process allows the AG to appeal on the decision for the case against Anwar. It is a criminal case and not a private case between Saiful and Anwar. It is entirely the AG prerogative to appeal or otherwise. I believe no one is questioning his right but rather his wisdom and his motive. There are people who walked away with murder in this country and the AG chose not to appeal in view of the judge decision. Here we have a case of alleged carnal sex between two parties and if indeed it happened it most likely to be consensual. Despite the judge decision, I cannot comprehend the AG decision. Was there an objective assessment done on this case? Was there any interference by higher party?

• In the case of Althantuya, RB walked and he flew to the UK immediately. It is public knowledge that there is no extradition treaty between Malaysian and the UK and maybe that is one of the reason he choses that country other than pursuing his tertiary education. Despite Althantuya was gruesomely murdered the AGC chose not to appeal on the court decision on RB. That raises a lot of question. Going by the brevity of the case, I believe there is a strong need for the AGC to appeal but they chose not to do so?  Though the court has identified the killers but I believe it is clear in many peoples mind that there is many unanswered questions. Among others this include who ordered them to do it and why? The 2 blokes has very little motive to kill her and clearly they are just following orders.

• The AGC has been sitting in the backroom last one year. He has become media shy but that should not stop the AGC from explaining to the public why they chose to do a selective appeal. There are 28 million people in this country. Most of them can think rationally. The AGC owes it to the people with a decent explanation. Their failure to do so is causing a lot of speculation and anger among the people. On the other hand the AG decision has allowed some breathing space for PR strategist.

• In the last few days legal suits running in the numbers of hundreds of millions has been filed in court. Shahrizat Jalil (SJ) had filed a defamation suit against RR and YBZ over the NFC issue. I have following the statements made by various parties over the NFC issue but I felt the suit against YBZ is a bit unfair. That in my mind is uncalled for.  However the suit against RR appears to have merit. RR made fun of the suit and twittered that that (SJ) can have his medium cost apartment. I laughed when I read it. Maybe I should tell SJ the long list of assets that RR has and it is certainly more than a medium cost apartment. SJ can then make the step-wise releases just as RR has been doing. Anwar has filed a suit against Utusan that I felt was long overdue. Utusan definitely need to be given a lesson on professional journalism. Well done Anwar and R2W hope you will win.

• I am disappointed with the AG decision to file an appeal on Anwar’s case. Politically it does not help BN and only strengthen people’s hatred towards BN-UMNO. While I appreciate that the AG has the right to appeal under the law but it must be with strong basis. High Court judge Zabidin Mohd Diah decision was very clear. The DNA evidence has been compromised. Because of that there is a strong doubt in the case. In fact there are many other corroborating doubts that I had mentioned in my previous writing. Unfortunately the Judge has only singled out one and the one he choses most important one. I cannot appreciate the basis of this appeal. It simply does not make sense. It is not as if the reasons given by Judge Zabidin is weak. Maybe when details of the appeals come out, we will know for sure. Whatever the case maybe, I am extremely disappointed. The levelheaded Malaysian will continue to take this as a matter of continued harassment and political prosecution.

The above 3 post basically translate my thoughts about the issues of local government election. It is a 2008 election pledge that PR had side stepped, skirted and blatantly lie to the people in Selangor. While I acknowledge their handicapped in doing the election in view of the LG Act (ACT 171) but there is nothing stopping them from nominating people that has been elected by residents to represent them in the local government. Instead they chose to continue the old BN tradition where political nominees and PR aligned NGO are being appointed. Despite their hatred towards BN, they have no shame in following what BN does. For the record the LG Election is one of the reasons that made me convinced my whole family and sister and brother in-laws to vote for PR in 2008. It is sad to see that supporters of PR did not demand this sacred election promises. While they had demanded a lot of things from BN, they have been utterly silent about the election promises made by their idols. I quote the Holy Quran, Surah al-Anfāl verse 8:55-56 where it says; “Surely the vilest of animals in Allah’s sight are those who disbelieve, then they would not believe. Those with whom you make an agreement, then they break their agreement every time and they do not guard (against punishment).” I am certain keeping one promises is an important element in every religion on earth.

I am disappointed with the SSG on this matter. The most basic element of people empowerment is being ignored. In MPAJ we have all sorts of political nominees who take turns to sit on the council. The backgrounds of the councilors are far from satisfactory and do not meet the sacred component of the Act. They have not been able to use their position in the council effectively to ensure the best interests of the residents are protected. They have not come forward and push for new policy development and get it enforced by the authorities. Instead they merely function as rubber stamps of whatever is being presented at the council meeting.

Section 10 of ACT 171 says; “

10. Councilors

 (1) The local authority shall consist of—

(a) The Mayor or President; and

(b) Not less than eight and not more than twenty-four other Councilors, to be appointed by the State Authority.

(2) Councilors of the local authority shall be appointed from amongst persons the majority of whom shall be persons ordinarily resident in the local authority area who in the opinion of the State Authority have wide experience in local government affairs or who have achieved distinction in any profession, commerce or industry, or are otherwise capable of representing the interests of their communities in the local authority area.

I encourages all residents in Selangor to study the background of the existing councillors and they will be surprised on the findings. For those that is unaware, the term of councillors has been extended for another month as the SSG could not make up their mind on who should be a councillor in 2012/13.

 I envy MBPJ for having  several knowledgeable and eloquent local council members.  They are very knowledgeable of the ACT and are able to control the council and the decision making process. It was in MBPJ, the billboard standardization and policy first came out. It was later endorsed and to be applied in the whole of Selangor. Did it happen? I can say confidently that it happened in PJ partly but not at all in Ampang. Ampang is filled with all sorts of billboards and yet the local authorities earn pittance from this lucrative business. They complain of shortage of funds and are not able to meet their obligation to the ratepayers. Despite that they chose to close their eyes on one lucrative source of revenue where it can be used to mitigate any increase in quit rent. Based on experience of a councilor from MBPJ, enforcing this policy has been difficult because councilors are weak as well as the billboard owners had invested in the councilors.

 The onus is on us, the people who voted PR into government to demand that they do what they had promised us.  Should we maintain them for the hatred towards BN when they have not done what they had promised? We cannot simply close one eye on the promises made. A popular Malay proverb says this aptly; “Lembu di pegang pada tali dan manusia dipegang pada janjinya”

• Yesterday Khazanah announced that they have sold their strategic stake in Proton (42.7%) to DRB-Hicom for RM1.3 billion. I am not convinced that the sale would benefit the company or the automotive industry. What is clear though is that now that Proton is in the hands of private individual, then we can no longer call it a national car. Since there is no longer any national car around, there is no reason for the government to maintain the preferential tax treatment that is given to Proton. It is time to liberalize and allow a fairer tax structure for the benefit of all Malaysian. The preferential tax structure for Proton must be removed.

• Is it the best deal for Proton and its shareholders? The world automotive industry has change. Technology is moving fast and my own assessment is that Proton is trailing far behind. The days of car manufacturer produces every single part is over. Giant manufacturers today are nothing more than Giant assemblers. Their products are designed by assembling all available components that is available in the world market. From a pure business angle, I am not convinced that Khazanah is getting the best deal here. I am far from convinced that DRBH entry into Proton would bring any strategic value considering they are also not on the world automotive stage. DRBH survival has always been dependent on government procurement especially from the Military. I believe there are hidden hands that interfere in this decision making process. I suspect DRBH would be a mere middleman where it would now seek international partners to take a stake in Proton and make some money from the transaction. Can we conclude that it was a controlled lelong?

• I was hoping to see Proton cars with BMW or WW technology in it but I suspect this is not going to happen any moment soon. In any case, the government has no more reason to give protection to proton. It must liberalize the tax structures for all locally assembled cars. They must  use only one tax structure. Since Khazanah and Proton is not a real winner in this deal, maybe the government would consider making the rakyat as the real beneficiary where we are given option to buy cars with a level tax regime.  Maybe it is time the people demand for it. Who knows BN may consider it, as part of pre-election goodies the people would enjoy. After all the government has been giving plenty of goodies lately. Lets push for it.Who knows we might be lucky.

• The PM announced yesterday that the NFC asset has been frozen. Hours before that Shahrizat went on leave. I am sure many can put the pieces together. The investigation has been completed. Prof Salleh who is under a lot of pressure has been making a lot of wrong moves. Today NFC is beyond salvage. It is a political disaster. NFC is a BN liability. The DPM who is the former MOA minister is answerable. Shahrizat who is the wife of the cattle farmer had to be burned. In my assessment the NFC leaked was done on purpose. PKR was fed with the bullets. The intended target was not Shahrizat unfortunately in war there are collateral damages. The country has lost one capable minister.

• Unfortunately, our PM biggest weakness is his inability to act fast enough. He is moving like a sloth. His failure is giving room to PR to further exploit the issues. It is sending a message that that UMNO-BN is protecting their fold when it comes to issues related to corruption and abuse of power. From Dec 2009, I have said that NFC will fail and indeed it has failed. The underlying cause of the failure is because the lack of independence of the government agencies that is involved in the project. They could not challenge their political masters. They gave money to an academician with zero background in cattle ranching. They failed to monitor and failed to ensure money that has been released was used for intended purposes. For that they should also shoulder the blame. In my opinion Najib deserves an F for his slow reaction in handling the case. Najib failed to capitalize an opportunity to show his firmness in addressing inefficiencies and power and position abuse.

• The PM has instructed the DPM and Dato’ Noh to look on what can be done with NFC. I don’t know what the government plans are but I expect NFC to payback the loan with interest immediately. This must be made public. The government needs to revisit their objectives again and revised their plan on how to meet the agenda of reducing meat import. Let the company decides on how and what it wants to do with the beef valley. The original objectives are good and achievable. The only thing wrong with it is the way it is done. I believe I can do it and willing to take the challenge with a salary of RM1 per month. In the meantime, I hope Najib will also look into the government investment in the  “prawn farming business” in Pitas, Sungai Telaga and Sungai Padas in Sabah before RR decides to  fly there.
  
• .

• Malaysian political scene is in a state of motion. For the last few years, PR has been pushing the ideas that they are cleaner, transparent and accountable. They are telling the people that the BN is dirty, not transparent and has poor level of accountability. To a certain extent I agree. BN leadership failed the people. The members of the party failed to discipline the corrupt leaders. They allowed the power abusers and the corrupt to continue to govern the country. There is enough evidence out there to give credence to the allegations.

• The people are pinning their hopes on PR. Since everyone says BN is dirty and the options are limited, where else can the people turn to? They are dependent on PR. The people continue to listen to promises. Are they so gullible that they are willing to accept for promises without demanding some form of commitment? The people have yet been told on the details on how PR will make the difference. That brings to Ambiga request at the PR congress in Kedah. She has set the ball rolling by demanding to know on how PR plans to bring back the loss trillions and fight corruption. A university student, Akram Ikrami took the risk of facing disciplinary action from (his) university challenged PR to reveal its plans on student loans (PTPTN). 
He said 
“Students are bored with hearing Pakatan saying that they’re heading to Putrajaya…they should present their solution on PTPTN; there is still none given,” Their demands are no different that was is demanded by people in Ampang, PJ and association like VICTIMS Malaysia. What I see is that “Now everyone can promise”

• Let us look at the issue of accountability. The best way to ensure strong accountability in the local authorities are by getting the community leaders to sit on the local council. While I appreciate that election cannot be done it does not mean we cannot be creative in appointing residents into the council. Just look at the council members in PJ and Ampang. How many of them are independent and are not   members of any of the PR coalition. How many small contracts at the local council are awarded to the same stakeholders using different companies? Have the people forgot the promises of SSG on the appointment of local council members? Why are the people not demanding delivery? Are promises enough to make our life better? Are the politician’s promises etched in stone or is it written down in a contract that is publicly available?

• In the subsequent series of tweet, I asked the MB why the SSG was prepared to fork out such a huge sum of money for this project and not for the project in UKB. As expected, I did not get any reply. In my previous discussion with YBZ, AA and RR they said that the position in matters of abandon housing, state funds cannot be used as it would not be fair to the people in the state. In Alam Perdana, the state leverages its powers, muscled its way to get things done. KPKT was not involved. Why Alam Perdana is special? It is probably related to the fact that the project lies within his constituency and UKB is within AA area.

• It is an open secret that the relationship between AA and the MB is not as rosy as what is painted. The MB on many occasions has attacked AA during state assembly sitting and PKR congress. Could it be that poor relationship between the two affected the decision of the MB in helping the house buyers in UKB. Are the purchasers of UKB  deemed as pawn in the issue between the two?

• My position has always been that the state has ability to leverage its powers if it wants to. Many disagreed with me. The case of Alam Perdana is a good example where the state had leverage its position. I am not sure how the SSG plans to recoup its investment in Alam Perdana as that is still unclear. Maybe it will be consider this as a sunk cost. If that is the case than I believe it is best that the  MB explains why Alam Perdana was given such privileges so that all us would have a clear picture.

• The KL CPO announced today that the bombs were created and planted by bomb experts. This is indeed scary. We should not allow such a character to roam free among us. Who knows when and where the next time this guys would strike. Our own family members could be the next victims. I don’t want this to happen our country. We must not allow this culture to propagate. All Malaysian must come forward and ensure that this case is resolve expeditiously. If this action is not condemned, the perpetrators may strike again. It may encourage others to attempt it as well. We must not let freedom goes into our head and must ensure that Malaysia do not end up like Pakistan or Indonesia where bombing is a regular affair.

• The IGP today announced a reward of RM10, 000.00 for information leading to the capture of the perpetrators. The amount is rather small. I am not a rich man. However I think we all must encourage informant to come forward to assist and solve this crime. Therefore, I would like to offer an additional reward of RM1000.00 that will be given to the recipient of the police award. I will inform the IGP accordingly.  I hope the readers of my blog would step in and push up reward. You can contact the police directly on how to pass them the money. Maybe with a bigger bounty, more credible information will come forward and we could solve this heinous crime.  Remember your family could be the next victim

If you have information, please contact DSP YAHYA ABDUL RAHMAN 0194708946

• PKR leaders had rehearsed on what need to be said upon the court decision if the court finds Anwar guilty. They have a written script in their pocket. That script became irrelevant and eventually ends up in a dustbin. The court decision has probably affected their planning and strategy for the next few months up to next GE. All those strategy prepared in advance are now useless. They cannot get votes on sympathy and could not attack the judiciary. Everything has gone into disarray.

• What would be the political game plan for PR on the run up to GE13? They have to find new issues to raise people’s hatred against the government. In the next few months, we hope PR in the states where they govern would show ability to govern and show how the people benefitted from their governance. They need to change their hatred game plan immediately. People are getting fed-up. A poor show of supporters at the court on judgment day is a good indication on how the people feel about PR game plan. Seriously, they must take note that the people need to feel the difference of having a different government and they must show by example now before GE13.

• The aim is never about sending Anwar to jail. That would be too easy and counter productive. The aim is to win the hearts and mind of the borderline voters by promoting Anwar sexual behavior. To a certain extent while the case was going on in court, they had managed to plant a negative view of Anwar on many fence sitters especially in the semi-urban and rural areas. In one stroke, the judge has made Anwar looks bad and uplifts the image of BN and the judiciary. Anwar has been critical of the judiciary. They even promoted the 901-campaign thinking Anwar will go to jail. Sending Anwar to jail will automatically sent UMNO to a bottomless pit. It will not help BN. An acquittal would help BN a lot. It will show that the court is independent of the government and at the same time it gives BN more bullets to attack Anwar and PKR. Only a shortsighted man believes that the court decision reflects the independence of the judiciary. We can expect BN to go on a roadshow to explain the court decision and its interpretation.  They will show that BN did not control the judiciary and they are not involved in punishing Anwar. They will say that they are the victim of  PKR malicious lies. There is also the matter Dato Trio revelation of the sex video with a prostitute. The Trio has been fined and the video has been proven authentic. That case is partially close.

• Will GE be held in the 1Q2012? I don’t think so because BN cannot allow the Anwar case euphoria to infect the masses. They need time to go to the ground and explain to the people on the court decision. There is money factors that is unsettled. The cow-gate and the Felda-gate issue are far from over. It is important to continue to exhaust PR machinery. Between now and the actual date PR will be subject to false signals that force them to react. When the political environment is optimum and when PR exhausted they will call for GE13. I think it should be in late Q3 or Q4 2012.  In the meantime Anwar image will continuously be repainted and I will look forward to have a nice warm tosei…

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• His stunt about the Christians converting Muslims is not acceptable. The constitution allows the non-Muslims to practice and propagate their religion in any manner that deem fit. If Malay chose to embrace Christianity, then we should not blame the converted and the converter but we should blame the on poor parenting, the micro community and the authorities. They had failed to retain one of their own believers.  Islam being the official religion of this country receives support from the state and federal institutions propagate Islam.  They are organized. They have access to funding. Despite that there are Malays who walked away from the religion. For that reason they cannot blame the converters. They should whip themselves every time Malay chose to convert. There are many good examples where the authorities failed in their responsibility. Smoking is Haram and yet many Malays and so called strict Muslims, smokes like a chimney. How much effort does the authorities put in to ensure Muslims stays away from smoking? Why left the effort to MOH only? The current approach of protecting Islam by intimidating the non-Muslim is wrong. At the community level, people are too scared to raised issue about religion because of the intimidating behavior. The non-Muslim is quietly keeping it and absorbing it in their chest. There will be a day where they can no longer tolerate it an all hell will break lose. Who should be accountable when that happens? Why are we destroying the beautiful image of Islam by our maligned approach?

• In Malaysia we discourage non-Muslims from entering our mosque. In many parts of the world, the non-Muslims are invited to the mosque to listen to religious sermons so that they can have better understanding about Islam. They are encouraged to see how Muslims pray. Why doesn’t our Mosque conduct and open day on weekly or monthly basis for non-Muslims to explore the religion. In Malaysia many non-Muslim community moves away when there is a new Mosque being built in their neighborhood. Their issue is the unreasonable loudness of Azan and the recitation of Quran before Azan using megaphones. Why is this a practice in Malaysia when it is not even done in the holy land? Many non-Muslim that I met has no problem with Azan. They only request that the loudness is to be within certain tolerance of the human ears. They suffer in silence, as they are too scared to raise the issue. The unreasonable Muslims think they are doing justice to Islam but in reality they are not. We are not bringing Islam closer to the non-Muslim but indirectly and directly chasing them away. We should change our strategy and approach to strengthen the faith among the believers and to encourage the non-Muslim to get closer to Islam. Intimidation is not the way to do it.