17 April 2014| last updated at 12:09AM

Anwar lashes out at Singapore over MH370

By SYED UMAR ARIFF | news@nst.com.my

'WRONG': It should not be praising Malaysia's 'mediocre' search efforts, he says

PETALING JAYA: DATUK Seri Anwar Ibrahim has hit out at  Singapore for supporting "mediocre" Malaysian efforts in the search for MH370, while absolving himself of  a controversial statement that he could handle the tragedy in a second.
Commenting on the recognition of other countries on Malaysia's attempts to find the missing aircraft, the opposition leader singled out Singapore as being "inconsistent" between championing meritocracy and mediocrity.
"Singapore has repeatedly praised Malaysia. I thank them in the case of MH370. But Singapore sometimes contradicts itself. It talks about meritocracy, but (would settle for) mediocre leaders in the neighbouring country (Malaysia)," he said at a press conference at PKR headquarters here yesterday.
Anwar said the opposition was not against the search-and-rescue operation as a whole.
"We are not saying that everything is wrong in Malaysia. We are saying there is no transparency.
"(For example), there are (matters on) radar and mangosteens (pertaining to allegations that the MH370 flight manifest not made public or clear). These are the central issues."
The PKR de-facto leader said the Singapore government should not infer that the Malaysian opposition was irresponsible in its criticism.
"And (Singapore) repeatedly say that it is satisfied. I mean are you satisfied with mediocrity when you talk about meritocracy in your country?"
On the recent controversial statement in which Anwar was quoted as saying that he would only take one second to address the mystery of MH370, he said he was misquoted by the report.
"I refer to the original statement in which I said I would take one second... which I meant that I will take a spontaneous action on my part to take immediate action to protect national security and disseminate information in a transparent manner."
On April 5, a Chinese daily published an interview by the Southern Weekly magazine with Anwar, quoting him as saying that he would only take one second to decide to ensure national safety and provide information to the people if he was the prime minister.


Read more: Anwar lashes out at Singapore over MH370 - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/anwar-lashes-out-at-singapore-over-mh370-1.570284#ixzz32PJhJy4b

Anwar calls for ‘spirit of change’ in CNY address

Anwar calls for ‘spirit of change’ in CNY address By Zurairi AR February 09, 2013 KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today blared Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) clarion call for change to the Chinese community as they prepare to usher in the Lunar New Year, saying it would be a step towards improving a country that has been ruled for over half a century by Barisan Nasional (BN). The Opposition Leader, in his Chinese New Year message on TV Selangor's YouTube channel, noted the importance of racial and religious unity among Malaysians when embracing the "spirit of change" to help the opposition pact achieve its Putrajaya goal. "We bring a spirit of change, for a better state of affairs," said Anwar, who could be seen sitting beside a small round table topped with greeting cards, Mandarin oranges and a lantern hanging from the ceiling. "Hopefully we can defend this spirit of change by attaining progress and good victory in the next general elections." The Permatang Pauh MP also insisted that the change promised by the opposition is a "change for the good". Anwar's message comes following claims by PR's political foes, particularly his long time arch-nemesis, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, that a vote for change would lead Malaysia to destruction. Dr Mahathir, who is said to still wield influence in ruling Umno, had last week warned Malaysians against voting for change, arguing that it will result in a weak government that would hinder economic progress. In the video, Anwar also urged Malaysians to band together in defending peace and unity between Malaysians of different races and religions, in order to bring about change. He likened the people's struggle for political change over the past year to the journey of Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang in the famous folktale "Journey to the West". According to him, Xuanzang was faced with many hardships along his journey, but managed to triumph at the end of it. "(We've had) years of anguish, with economic problems, graft, corruption, insults to races and religions, rights of citizens, (where) citizenships are still questioned and disputed," he added. Anwar's speech in the video was interspersed with montages of various multicultural festival celebrations organised by PR. This year's Chinese New Year celebrations has seen politicians from both Barisan Nasional (BN) and federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) eagerly taking the chance to reach out to voters, by sending out greetings with a subtle political flavour ahead of Election 2013. The Chinese, who are the second-largest ethnic group in the country, had previously been described by Dr Mahathir as the "kingmakers" in the 13th general election, which must be held within months. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/anwar-calls-for-spirit-of-change-in-cny-address/

Anwar: Audit report delayed to stifle opposition’s Budget 2013 debate

Anwar: Audit report delayed to stifle opposition’s Budget 2013 debate


UPDATED @ 06:56:46 PM 24-09-2012 By Clara Chooi

Assistant News EditorSeptember 24, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today questioned the government’s motive in delaying its release of the Auditor-General’s Report, asking if this was a deliberate attempt to prevent opposition lawmakers from referring to the document when debating Budget 2013.



The opposition leader said this was an “inappropriate” practice as the A-G’s Report should be used as reference when parliamentarians review the government’s expenditure plans for the following year.



“It seems like this is a tactic of the Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) government to prevent MPs from viewing this report.



“The A-G’s Report is an evaluation of the government’s performance over the year. So in order to fairly debate the budget, we need to read this audit report first,” Anwar (picture) pointed out.



The Permatang Pauh MP vowed that should Pakatan Rakyat (PR) take over the reins of Putrajaya after the coming polls, it would ensure that the A-G’s Report is released to MPs before the budget is tabled.



Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz told reporters in Parliament this morning that the government had decided to delay its release of the A-G’s Report, which had severely embarrassed the government last year when it revealed several financial irregularities in federal expenditure, including the use of a RM250 million loan for the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) cattle farming scheme.



The Padang Rengas MP said the public document would only be released in the House “one or two weeks” after Budget 2013 is tabled this Friday.



“The report is ready but it’s not going to be tabled simultaneously (with Budget 2013) because the audit report may take more news that the budget.



“So what we will do is the audit report will be tabled a week or two later but there will still be enough time for the MPs to debate,” he said.



PKR deputy president Azmin Ali accused the government of attempting to hide its weaknesses by delaying the report, pointing out that the audit was meant to reveal any irregularities in federal expenditure.



The Gombak MP agreed that tabling the document before the Budget would help parliamentarians better assess the government’s plans for the country’s finances in the year ahead.



“The government is trying to distract MPs from seeing the facts. This report is important; we do not want to debate with baseless allegations,” he said.



The A-G’s Report is traditionally tabled simultaneously with the Budget but the government had delayed it last year, despite protests from opposition lawmakers.



The 2010 A-G report released on October 24 last year found that nine federal ministries and departments had exceeded their overall operational allocation by a total of RM3.73 billion.



They include the Education Ministry, Health Ministry, Home Ministry, Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry, Public Service Department, Attorney-General’s Department, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Public Services Commission.



The report also stated that the overspending was unavoidable due to additional activities and unscheduled payments.

Melayu Berpecah Sebab Umno-APCO, Bukan Pakatan Rakyat

Melayu Berpecah Sebab Umno-APCO, Bukan Pakatan Rakyat




















Bersetuju dengan pandangan Mufti Perak Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, Profesor Madya Mohammad Agus Yussoff menegaskan perpecahan Melayu yang didakwa semakin parah turut disebabkan tindakan kerajaan tidak mahu mendengar pandangan berbeza daripada rakyat.

Selain itu tegas pensyarah dari Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), perpecahan Melayu juga berpunca daripada tindakan kerajaan mengetepikan hak orang Melayu sepertimana yang berlaku di Kelantan.

“Saya setuju sangat dengan padangan Harussani tapi saya nak tambah lagi dua iaitu perpecahan Melayu juga berpunca dari sikap kerajaan yang tidak mahu buka telinga dan dengar pandangan yang berbeza daripada rakyat... kalau kerajaan tidak mahu orang Melayu berpecah, kerajaan perlu dengar dan terima pandangan yang berbeza sebab itu punca orang Melayu berpecah tapi masalahnya kerajaan takut nak dengar.

“Berpecah orang Melayu ini juga sebab diskriminasi dan ketidakadilan kepada orang Melayu itu sendiri seperti mana yang berlaku di Kelantan sebab itu perpecahan ini berlaku,” katanya kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Dalam Wacana Ulama Politik Untuk Dakwah Atau Parti baru-baru ini, Harussani berkata perpecahan di kalangan Melayu berlaku disebabkan pentadbiran negara yang cukup lemah, rasuah dan tidak amanah.

Harussani juga berkata, orang Melayu berpecah selepas bekas perdana menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad memecat Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pada September 1998.

Tegas Agus, perpecahan Melayu boleh dielakkan sekiranya kerajaan menerima setiap kritikan dan pandangan berbeza yang dikemukakan oleh sesiapa sahaja termasuk Pakatan Rakyat.

“Sedangkan kerajaan boleh lakukan pelbagai cara dan saya takut perpecahan orang Melayu ini akan meruntuhkan negara, kita ada ramai ahli akademik dan pembangkang yang memberikan pandangan tapi kerajaan tidak mahu dengar.

“Sekarang kita lihat tiada lagi orang Melayu yang berani untuk beri pandangan yang berbeza dengan kerajaan, ini yang menyebabkan kelemahan orang Melayu... kerajaan perlu berani mendengar pendapat yang berbeza,” katanya.

Tambah beliau:

“Tiada guna adanya ahli akademik kalau semua jadi pak angguk.”

Agus menambah isu perpecahan Melayu bukan isu politik dan pandangan Harussani perlu diambil berat.

“Ini bukan isu politik, ini pandangan mufti untuk beritahu kenapa orang Melayu lemah dan berpecah.

“Saya setuju dengan pandangan Harusani itu, ia adalah pandangan yang baik tapi kerajaan tidak mahu terima,” katanya.

Pensyarah kanan Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Profesor Madya Dr Sivamurugan Pandian berkata Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak perlu tampil membuat penjelasan sama ada bersetuju atau tidak dengan pandangan Harussani itu.

“Apa yang dikatakan Harussani itu antara sebab mengapa wujud perpecahan, barangkali perdana menteri perlu mengeluarkan kenyataan balas sama ada beliau setuju dengan pandangan mufti Perak itu atau tidak.

“Penjelasan harus diberikan supaya tiada lagi spekulasi lain kerana ia keluar daripada Harussani,” katanya.

Jelas beliau, banyak faktor yang menyebabkan perpecahan orang Melayu berlaku bukan hanya tiga perkara yang dibangkitkan Harussani.

“Bagi saya perpecahan orang Melayu itu mungkin berpunca daripada parti politik macam PAS dan Umno dan saya rasa kalau kedua-dua parti ini duduk bertemu perkara ini boleh diatasi.

“Sebab isunya sekarang adalah Melayu-Islam, utamakan perpaduan dan ketepikan fahaman politik dan titik imbangan itu, ini bukan kerjasama politik tapi untuk perpaduan orang Melayu,” katanya.

Anti-Bersih group holds Najib to ransom

Anti-Bersih group holds Najib to ransom


By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 11, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 — Anti-Bersih supporters have mounted a petition online, threatening to abandon its support for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration if the prime minister fails to revoke the citizenships of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Ambiga Sreenavasan and punish Bersih marchers.

Pledging one million signatures, the petition started by one Rahmat Azim Abd Aziz, 39, warns Najib against ignoring its five demands, saying its signatories would not hesitate to rebel to defend Malaysia, “even without the help of Datuk Seri’s (Najib) government”.

As of 8pm today, the petition entitled, “Legal action and recommendations to His Royal Highness the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia to revoke medals and accolades” has attracted 173 signatures.
It was created on petitiononline.com, a site that hosts online public petitions for free, but Facebook users have since caught wind of it and are sharing links to the site on fan pages and their profile pages, urging others to sign it.

“If Datuk Seri does not take stern action and monitor subversive elements and efforts to tarnish the country’s image, Malaysians will lose direction and faith in your leadership.

“When this happens, traitors to the country will find it easier to take over our beloved Malaysia. Datuk Seri’s efforts will become pointless and the futures of our youths will become uncertain,” the petition said.

Claiming to represent the views of a majority of the government’s supporters, the petition urged that its demands be given “full and serious” consideration, saying that “peace, harmony, unity and Malaysia’s economic strength” are important elements for the present and coming generations.

“Racism and disunity have become more widespread due to incitement from opposition parties, NGOs and foreign agents. We want stability, economic strength and unity.

“All of Datuk Seri’s efforts in developing the economy will be destroyed in the blink of an eye simply because of those who are uncomfortable with seeing progress in Malaysia,” said the petition.

In its demands, the petition called on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin to revoke the titles of Ambiga, Anwar, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said.

It also wants Anwar and Ambiga’s citizenships revoked, saying the duo had instigated the people to riot, rebel and defy the country’s rule of law.

It also demands that legal action be taken against any of the 91 individuals who violated a court order obtained by the police barring them from entering the city on July 9.

Among those who were locked out were Ambiga, Anwar, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, and Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali.

The petition also seeks legal action against Bersih 2.0 organisers for supposedly defying the King’s advice, and the over 1,000 protestors who were arrested for participating in an illegal rally.

Pro-Bersih supporters have also started a similar campaign on Facebook through a fan page calling for Najib’s resignation.

The page, which was set up shortly after Saturday’s rally, hit its 100,000 target at 3.50am this morning and has continued growing since then. As at 8pm today, a total of 136, 902 people have clicked “Like” on the page.


http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2011/07/12/anti-bersih-group-holds-najib-to-ransom/

Anak claims Felda took RM6b loan from EPF

Anak claims Felda took RM6b loan from EPF
Tuesday, May 24 @ 07:58:09 CDT
Mazlan Aliman shows reporters minutes from a Felda settlement panel meeting that he says provides proof of this.
A land rights group linked to PAS says it has evidence to show that the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) borrowed RM6 billion from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

This, said Persatuan Anak Peneroka Felda Kebangsaan (Anak), is proof that Felda, a government-linked company (GLC), is facing financial woes.
Anak chairperson Mazlan Aliman (left in picture) today showed reporters what he claimed to be minutes of a meeting of the programme development committee of Felda Nitar 02, which exposed the huge loan.

Felda Nitar 02 is one of more than 300 Felda settlements nationwide. The programme development committee is a body set up in every settlement to manage and develop the locality.

According to the minutes, one of the issues discussed at the meeting on April 20 this year was an application to increase the living allowance of the settlers.

The document states that the application had been rejected by the national settler consultation committee because "Felda had borrowed RM6 billion from EPF for the development of settlers' lots".

Mazlan said: "We demand that (Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Department) Ahmad Mazlan explains whether this is true. And, what is the purpose of the loan?"

A great burden on the settlers

Should the information be true, he said, it would be a great burden to the settlers.

"It will also show that Felda is facing a huge financial crisis, contrary to what Ahmad had claimed earlier," Mazlan added.

The dispute over Felda's financial status broke out last June when opposition parties alleged that Felda's reserves had declined by RM200 million from RM4.5 billion in 2004 as a result of irregularities.

Ahmad, who is in charge of Felda affairs, conceded in Parliament later that Felda's reserves had depleted from RM4.08 billion in 2004 to RM1.35 billion in 2009.

However, he rejected the charges of irregularities, saying that Felda's asset value had appreciated despite the drop in its reserves.

Dissatisfied with his answers, the opposition lodged reports with the police and the (then) Anti-Corruption Agency, demanding investigations into Felda's financial management.

On a related matter, Mazlan announced that a mammoth rally of Felda settlers would be held in Kerdau, Pahang, this weekend to consolidate the Anak movement.

Top opposition leaders, including PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, will attend the rally.
http://www.freemalaysiakini.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12657

Sex, offensive

Sex, offensive
March 23, 2011MARCH 23 — There is a video somewhere. Not many have seen it, but it seemingly exists. In the video, a man alleged to be a senior Malay politician from the opposition was filmed having sex with a woman, supposedly a prostitute.

That man is supposedly Anwar Ibrahim. The same Anwar Ibrahim who, lest we forget, is already in a trial for allegedly penetrating another man’s rectum six times. Or maybe more, maybe less.

This video is claimed to be in the possession of a man who prefers to only be known as Datuk T.

The video was taken from the output of four different cameras, most likely well-hidden in a hotel room. From what has been reported, it is safe to assume that the man in the video did not know he was being filmed.

The same cannot be said of the woman, since she apparently stole an Omega watch belonging to the man who she had just had sex with, and the very same watch was then displayed by Datuk T to his audience.

Ah yes, his audience.

He made a press conference to announce this, in fact. To announce that he has this video, and that he would send it to the politician in a week, after which he expects the politician and his wife to resign. One assumes the resignations are for all political posts that they hold. Or to just be resigned.

This Datuk T… is a nasty, nasty piece of work.

Now, in a reasonable world, Datuk T should already be in the slammer, or at the very least brought in for questioning. Regardless of whether the man in the video is Anwar Ibrahim, or some pot-bellied simile of him, Datuk T has confessed to being in possession of something that is in gross violation of a person’s privacy.

Irrespective of whether the intercourse was sinful or otherwise, the persons involved in recording the act should be considered, in a reasonable world, as the ones who are wronged first and foremost.

That is where the investigation should start. That is where the condemnation should begin from.

In a reasonable world, we shouldn’t have to check the hotel room we’re in for hidden cameras. There is already one hotel in Batu Pahat that we know we shouldn’t be going to. Now, there’s apparently another in a location as yet unspecified.

But it seems that we don’t live in a reasonable world. Or rather, not in a reasonable country. Because at the moment, Datuk T is still out and about. He’s also called for an “independent public commission” comprising of NGOs and members of the media, to do forensics on the video. This is to ostensibly to verify the authenticity and provenance of it.

Which particular NGOs were not mentioned, though one can assume it wouldn’t be the likes of Sisters In Islam, or the World Wildlife Fund.

Meanwhile, the authorities are not exactly doing anything to Datuk T. Not yet, anyway, though one hopes that they will soon.

Apparently, there will be a special police unit to investigate the claims made in a police report by Anwar, under section 292 of the Penal Code for possession and distribution of pornographic material.

But it’s not porn. It’s just someone who was engaged in a sexual activity with another person and didn’t know he was being filmed.

No, we don’t live in a reasonable country.

And that Datuk T… a nasty, nasty piece of work.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Was it a big fat lie, Mr PM? — P. Ramakrishnan

Was it a big fat lie, Mr PM? — P. Ramakrishnan
March 23, 2011MARCH 23 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was reported by The Sunday Star (20 March 2011) as having said that PKR had gone to the extent of telling the ‘biggest political lie of the century’ when it announced it would take over the government on 16 September 2008.

“We have to keep repeating this because human memory is short and they forget, but we must remind the people that it was the biggest political lie of the century,’ he said.

He said PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had made the Barisan Nasional worried when he claimed that more than 30 of the coalition’s elected representatives would cross over, “But in the end, it was all a big fat lie’ he added.

I must thank the PM for jogging my memory. The only truth in his statement was that “Datuk Anwar Ibrahim had made the Barisan Nasional worried when he claimed that more than 30 of the coalition’s elected representatives would cross over”.

That was a fact. The rest of Najib’s claims about what transpired cannot be said to be the “biggest political lie of the century”. They are Najib’s claims of what happened and they are his lies.

Again, Najib is correct in stating, “We have to keep repeating this because human memory is short and they forget…” Indeed we have to repeat the past incidents and recall what actually happened so that people can remember the truth.

If the cross over on 16 September 2008 was deemed to be a lie, why did the BN take this lie so seriously by sending some 50 MPs to Taiwan? They were sent, we were then told, on an agricultural tour of Taiwan. But the truth was that the BN was running scared of the possibility of its own MPs switching sides. It did not trust its MPs absolutely.

That was the only reason why the BN wanted to keep these 50-over MPs away from Malaysia. It desperately wanted them to be away from Anwar who was trying to entice some 30 over BN MPs to defect to his side in his campaign to unseat the BN government.

The BN knew that there was this real possibility that its MPs could have provided Anwar the majority that was required to topple the BN government.

There was no other convincing reason why these MPs had to be kept away from Malaysia on 16 September. They could have been sent to Taiwan or to Timbaktu on any other date for whatever course but the BN wasn’t prepared to take any chances by keeping them in Malaysia on 16 September!

So on 8 September — 8 days before 16 September — these MPs were packed off to Taiwan on a “blur blur” tour. One BN MP mentioned that this trip was planned months ago while another contradicted him by claiming it was all so sudden!

Lim Kit Siang alluded to this as “a national shame that BN MPs should be treated like delinquent children who have to be packed off overseas and secluded from mischief — treating BN MPs as no better than chattel. Poor BN MPs!”

John Roberts in an article entitled, “Political power struggle in Malaysia continues unabated” had this to say:

In the lead up to September 16, the government took the extraordinary step of sending nearly 50 BN parliamentarians on a paid trip to Taiwan to study farming techniques. Few believe that farming issues were the reason behind the trip. Among those sent were parliamentarians regarded as most susceptible to being courted by the opposition. PKR secretary general Salehuddin Hashim described the expedition as “kidnapping,” saying it was “a very clear sign of the anxieties and insecurities inside Barisan”.

If the BN had not taken this extraordinary precaution by sending its own MPs away to Taiwan, and on 16 September if Anwar’s bid for power had failed, only then Najib could boast that “it was all a big fat lie”.

Since the BN did not dare take that chance to test the integrity of its own MPs, Najib’s story is nothing but a “big fat lie”.

* P. Ramakrishnan is president of Aliran.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.