Bersih to ‘name and shame’ candidates

K Pragalath

 | March 23, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR: Election reform watchdog Bersih today announced that it would “name and shame” politicians and election candidates who do not support its campaign against political violence.

“We’ll name and shame them. Silence is not an option. Vote against the MPs who encourage political violence and those who are silent about it.

“We will tell the public not to vote for them,” Bersih co-chairman, S Ambiga, said at the launching of Bersih’s “Reject political violence” campaign today.

The campaign kicked off with Bersih co-chairman A Samad Said sending SMSes to PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad (PAS), Batu MP Tian Chua (PKR), Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and Ipoh Timor MP Lim Kit Siang.

Besides the SMS, Bersih hopes to use the social media and by word of mouth to spread the message.

Ambiga also said that Bersih would accept any invitation to any political ceramah and also to speak up against political violence.

She listed nine instances of political violence that have occurred since January this year.

The election reform watchdog also announced that it would be releasing a code of conduct for candidates and rules of a caretaker government next week.

On another issue, Ambiga criticised Election Commission deputy chairman, Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, for saying that the election would take place before the conclusion of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Sabah, and that the EC was powerless to act as the RCI has not ended.

He is also reported to have said that the EC could not do anything about the irregularities in the Sabah electoral list even though many immigrants have received identification cards.

Ambiga said that based on the Likas case in 1999, the EC is duty-bound to conduct a public inquiry on the matter.

(In that case, the Kota Kinabalu High Court ruled that the electoral roll for the Likas constituency was illegal and accordingly declared the polls null and void. As a result, former Sabah chief Minister Yong Teck Lee had to vacate the seat. But despite the ruling, the EC did not act to clean up the roll.)

“I do not accept what the deputy chairman of EC is saying. It is unacceptable that the EC can’t do anything until the RCI is over. The EC’s failure to maintain a [clean] electoral roll makes the electoral roll illegal,” she said.

Ambiga also condemned the violence against blogger Papagomo yesterday.

“We condemn any form of violence as we condemn his [Papagomo's] type of politics,” she said.

The blogger, whose real name is Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, was beaten up by two unknown assailants and sustained minor head injuries yesterday afternoon.

He is known for publishing anti-Anwar Ibrahim materials on his blog. Anwar, who is PKR adviser and Permatang Pauh MP, filed a RM 100 million defamation suit against Papagomo on Thursday.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/03/23/bersih-to-name-and-shame-candidates/

‘Missing’ delegates at Penang DAP convention

Hawkeye

 | December 3, 2012

GEORGE TOWN: Penang DAP held its convention yesterday and the most notable event that happened was that by afternoon half the 300-odd delegates were “missing”.

Those who remained were either having a snooze or were talking among themselves, paying scant attention to the speakers.

This prompted Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow, who, by nature, is reserved to say that perhaps they should have lucky draws with cars and condominiums as prizes.

Chow’s remarks may not apply to Penang alone. There was a poor turnout at the Selangor convention and the situation was similar in some other states.

But Chow, being the wily old politician, corrected himself by saying it was the same for other political parties.

But, here Chow, the Tanjong MP, stand to be corrected.

At the PAS muktamar, one had to line up to use the restrooms, while at the Umno general assembly, they sat on the floor to listen to the proceedings.

“We should not read too much into it as this is not an election year at the state level,” said state DAP Youth activist Chris Lee.

Testament of power

DAP’s power base basically revolves around Penang, Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and parts of Johor.

It now also has a growing presence in Sarawak and a moderate representation in Sabah.

A political observer here, Ng Whien Chin, says DAP has always been a top-heavy organisation in terms of active members .

“DAP, however, is a party populated more by high-octane personalities than those with a crowd following. The exception now is DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who is popular among the grasssroots,” Ng said.

Lim would be revered in DAP and become its permanent statesman, if he can deliver Putrajaya, similar to how his father Kit Siang had managed the party through the turbulent years , Ng claimed.

Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi shares the same view as Lee over the turnout, saying that usually, conventions only have a reasonable turnout – not an overwhelming one since there is no election.

But Ng does not agree. He says from a neutral view, accumulating a crowd is a testament of power and to illustrate to the fence-sitters that DAP is not to be taken for granted by either Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional.

“Penang has one of the highest number of fence-sitters as the people here are highly educated and independent-minded.” he said.

A power broker

As the Chinese electorate ground is said to be solidly behind the Anwar Ibrahim-driven Pakatan, DAP is speculated to be a power broker when the “dust settles” after the coming election.

PKR has wavered after a spate of defections while PAS seems to be mired in its Islamist movement world, having unsettled DAP with its uncompromising stance on “hudud” and enforcing their own moral code.

DAP chairman Karpal Singh remained steadfast through this maze though, saying the party must stick by its principles whether in government or in the opposition.

Karpal scolded the local authorities in Selangor and Kelantan for their alleged undemocratic measures.

He was referring to an unpopular plan to build a housing project near Batu Caves and the summons issued to hair salon operators in Kelantan for allowing their females workers to cut the hair of the male patrons.

On the surface, it looks like all is not well within DAP. The grassroots members in Penang are not happy that DAP is unable to differentiate between what is government and what is party.

A sense of uneasiness has also engulfed members here over how Lim is importing in young talent, who are an unproven lot in DAP.

Ng said all these may not derail the party from securing its seats here, as many voters in Penang simply hate BN, and are willing to overlook DAP’s shortcomings.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/12/03/missing-delegates-at-penang-dap-convention/

Scandal of SALCO – How Taib Plans To Make Billions From Bakun. Exclusive! 16 Feb 2012

Scandal of SALCO – How Taib Plans To Make Billions From Bakun. Exclusive!

16 Feb 2012

Displaced families, who have received so little compensation from Bakun, may be interested to learn how Taib and his own family are planning to make billions for themselves out of the hydro-electric dam, based on an investment of just RM2.00!
We can reveal that SALCO (Sarawak Aluminium Company Sdn Bhd), the company that has been handed a licence to build a vast smelter in Simalaju, powered by cheap electricity from the dam, is secretively entirely owned by the Taib family company, CMS.
So far, they have only issued two shares for the company, worth a mere one ringgit each!
Scandalous SALCO scam!

Controlling interest - SALCO is run out of the Taib building, Wisma Mahmud

Our revelation sheds light on a classic money-making scam, that is still in its early stages for the Chief Minister, but where the planned outcome is plain to see.
It depends on a blatant willingness by Taib to abuse his political influence, in order to divert public money into his own pocket and on the apparent willingness of the multi-national company Rio Tinto Alcan to invest in a corrupted project.
At the centre of the ploy, is the company Sarawak Aluminium Company Sdn Bhd, which has always been officially presented as a ‘Joint Venture’  between the giant multinational, Rio Tinto Alcan and CMS, after the two companies signed a so-called Heads of Agreement in 2007 to explore the possibility of investing in the smelter project.

Government support - invaluable for a company with just RM2.00 investment!

In 2008 this supposed joint venture received a manufacturing licence from the Malaysian Federal Government’s Industrial Development Authority and it also established a Memorandum of Understanding to open negotiations with Sarawak’s energy authority, SEB, over access to the electricity.
Ever since, the planned SALCO aluminium smelter has been placed at the top of Taib’s proclaimed SCORE agenda for developing the potential of the Bakun Dam.

SALCO - is this really who we are?

And, whenever the project is referred to, whether in press releases, statements by ministers, interviews by CMS executives or, indeed, on SALCO’s own website (above) it has always been clearly suggested that the company is 60% owned by Rio Tinto and 40% owned by CMS.
Likewise, the licences and agreements granted by government agencies have further implied that SALCO represents a serious joint financial investment backed by the multi-national.

Heads of agreement between Rio Tinto and CMS's Richard Curtis - with Chief Minister (and Chief Shareholder) Taib Mahmud centre stage in a deal designed to net him a fortune!

However, our company research reveals that in fact SALCO consists of just two shares, issued for a mere one ringgit each, both owned  by a company called Samalaju Aluminium Industries Sdn Bhd.

Just two shares at one ringgit each

We can further demonstrate that this Samalaju Aluminium Industries Sdn Bhd is in turn entirely owned by another company named Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd.

Samalaju Aluminium Industries Sdn Bhd is owned by Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd

… and this Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd is 100% owned by CMS!

One ringgit per share

Earlier this week a spokesman for Rio Tinto Alcan in the company’s Montreal headquarters conceded to Sarawak Report that as yet the multi-national has no direct investment in Sarawak:
“There is not much news to report in terms of the Joint Venture”, he said and he stressed that the aluminium manufacturing giant would not buy into the SALCO project “unless the price is right” for the electricity:

“We are actively participating in the negotiations for the power purchase agreement for the feasibility studies to commence”[RTA spokesman]

Since the Taib family company CMS has itself no credentials as an aluminium manufacturer it seems extraordinary that the State of Sarawak and Federal authorities have nevertheless given its 100% subsidiary SALCO the licence and go ahead to start manufacturing!

For Taib and his family side-kick Robert Geneid this 'important meeting' had a personal significance. If they can flog 60% of SALCO to RTS they should make billions of ringgit.

However, for CMS there is all to play for. The RTA spokesman confirmed to Sarawak Report that the multi-national is indeed interested in the proposed 60% stake in SALCO, as long as it can negotiate the large amounts of cheap electricity it wants.
Given that, as predicted, the Bakun Dam has created a glut of electricity in the state, even with just two of its eight turbines in action, and given there are few other customers in sight, it is likely to succeed.
This means that the stage is now set for Rio Tinto Alcan to buy over a 60% stake in SALCO!  Its the deal that Taib and his latest top family side-kick Robert Geneid have been frantically trying to pull together, holding ‘important meetings’ (Borneo Post) with Rio Tinto in Kuching just last month.
Who wins?

Promoting SALCO - so much political support!

Think of the potential profit for the main shareholders of CMS, if Rio Tinto Alcan moves in to take a 60% stake of this giant aluminium smelter project!
These shareholders, of course, are firstly Taib’s own long dead wife Laila, followed by his four children.
In total, as has been detailed many times on this site, the Taib family own at least half the company and all the top management positions – so plenty of bonus opportunities there as well!
Remember, Taib has so far invested just RM2.00.  Yet this factory is expected to absorb an enormous RM7billion in construction costs and it is then expected to produce at least 550,000 tons of aluminium a year, worth an annual RM2.4billion to Malaysian GDP. This could be extended to a full capacity of 1.5 million tons!

Getting in there - Australia has been happy to promote Rio Tinto's bid to work with Taib in Sarawak

So, why would CMS, with such a project under its control, hand over 60% of it to Rio Tinto Alcan for less than a commensurate price?
In fact, once a nice cheap electricity deal has been cut with SEB (run by Taib’s cousin and proxy Hamed Sepawi), CMS will be in a position to make a fat multi-billion ringgit profit out of their tiny two ringgit investment in SALCO!
And, further down the line, consider what a 40% stake in such a venture would be worth should Taib and his family eventually decide to sell it off!  They could even decide to cash in early and sell off their holding for a few billion up front – after all they only invested RM2.00!
Indeed, such RM2.00 companies have been the method by which corrupt politicians in Malaysia have exploited their positions for years, passing huge contracts and concessions into these empty shells, so that they can then be sold or the work sub-contracted to a real working concern.
But, this project is on a scale of its own!  The question is, why does Rio Tinto Alcan, a supposedly respectable multi-national, think it is appropriate to become involved?

Off repeated lie - "we are a joint venture between RTA and CMS"!

The losers
The losers are just as easy to identify.  To start with, Taib failed to tender the project, so the State of Sarawak stands to get no realistic premium from the licence.  Likewise, with the rock bottom price for the hydro electricity, SEB is likely to make very little with which to improve its services and infrastructure.
As usual, other construction companies have found themselves squeezed out of the opportunity, but will probably end up sub-contracting for CMS.
Then consider the Civil Service pension funds, which were forced by ministers to invest billions in the Bakun Dam project to keep it afloat, because private investors were too wary.  The promise of rock bottom prices for the resulting hydro-power does not provide much prospect of any reasonable return on that investment, which means civil service pensioners will lose out!

Noxious - the Pressmetal plant in Mukah has provided no jobs for the locals, but it has taken their land and poisoned their fields and their health

And what of the local people in the area?  They are already living in terror of the arrival of the plant, because of the worrying levels of pollution already being experienced by the people of Mukah, who are affected by the existing Pressmetal aluminium plant.
Aluminium manufacturing can be a highly toxic process, unless carefully managed, and the people of Mukah, who have of course lost much of their NCR land to the plant that now looms over them, are suffering health problems and their plants are dying.
And what about the possibility of jobs for such people?  Well, unfortunately, it appears they are not suitable.  Rio Tinto Alcan has announced a projected 4,700 jobs on the plant, however none of the local people have managed to find employment at Pressmetal.
Instead, Taib has already made clear in his announcements that he plans to import tens of thousands of foreigners from places like India to work in his SCORE projects.  Doubtless these immigrants will be given houses, identity cards and voting rights, all of which so many local people find hard to obtain.

Just days ago the Australian High Commissioner was over in Kuching promoting Rio Tinto Alcan's involvement in SCORE. He is supporting Australian big businesses venture with the Taib family, but what will it mean for jobs back in Tasmania's aluminium plant which Rio Tinto is planning to shut?

Doubtless, they will be expected to vote BN in return!
Finally, what about the workers in existing Rio Tinto Alcan plants in places like Tasmania?
Rio Tinto Alcan have in fact just signalled that they are interested in selling off their Tasmania plant, presumably because they have a cheaper option elsewhere!
Rio Tinto Alcan and its Corporate Social Responsibility
RTA spokesmen have made plain that they have yet to move to the stage of feasibility studies and environmental and social impact assessments for this Simalaju smelter project.
However, they can be under no illusion that in conducting prospective business with CMS they are proposing to enter into a joint venture partnership with one of the world’s most notoriously corrupted and politically exposed companies.

Taib stands to make billions (as usual), but what is in this project for local people?

Taib Mahmud himself is being formally investigated by his own federal government’s anti-corruption commission (MACC).  And countries all over the globe have confirmed that they are looking into the assets of Taib and his family, with respect to money laundering!
So, what on earth do Rio Tinto Alcan think they are doing even considering entering into such a deal with a company that is blatantly owned by Taib?
Of course, they stand to make a fortune for their shareholders if they are able to swing a ludicrously cheap deal for their electricity and to set up in a country like Sarawak, which has no carbon taxes and low standards of supervision on matters like the environment and labour matters.
But these days shareholders also expect certain basic ethical standards.  Do they include doing business with corrupt companies personally owned by Chief Minister of the state in which they are investing?
Is this what Rio Tinto Alcan mean by the statement:

“We respect the laws and customs of our host countries and communities. We work with them to ensure benefits and opportunities are shared”?

To the contrary, the Bakun Dam and the whole planned string of future dams and SCORE related projects that are now being rolled out in Sarawak, represent nothing less than a human and environmental disaster in one of the world’s last remaining great tropical rainforests.

What's in store? A Rio Tinto Alcan factory in Canada

The driving motivation behind this project is the desire by Taib Mahmud and relatives like his brother in law Robert Geneid (who now features as a key negotiator in the SALCO ‘joint venture’ project) to become personally even richer.
So, is it right for companies like Rio Tinto Alcan to threaten to pull out of established locations like Tasmania in order to get involved with a man like Taib in a place like Sarawak?

 http://www.sarawakreport.org/2012/02/scandal-of-salco-how-taib-plans-to-make-billions-from-bakun/

Taib Family Logging Company Kicked Out Of Liberia!

16 Jan 2013

Taib’s cousin, the logging tycoon and key political figure Hamed Sepawi, has been booted out of the African country Liberia by a Presidential decree to halt corrupt and illegal logging.
It makes for another blow to the Sarawak potentate’s international reputation, following condemnation this week in the Swiss Parliament.
Sepawi’s company Perkapalan Damai Timar (PDT) is a 60% shareholder of Atlantic Resources Limited, which has been exposed as a major culprit involved in corrupt practices and illegal logging that was set to destroy a quarter of Africa’s most heavily forested country.
Another key Sarawak company caught up in the scandal is the notorious destroyer of the Borneo Jungle, Samling, which has been exposed as the bankroller behind the venture, working hand in glove with Hamed Sepawi and PDT.
This African scandal brings international attention to the fact that Taib’s crony timber companies, which gained huge financial strength through their exploitation of Sarawak, have gone on to create global problems. Samling, Ta Ann, Rimbunan Hijau and WTK are all regarded by ENGOs as a worldwide menace in terms of corrupt practices and their disregard for communities and the environment.

Atlantic Resources Ltd, owned by Sepawi’s PDT, had corruptly abused Private Use Permits to take over a quarter of the country’s rainforest.

Hamed’s PDT and Samling Condemned
The Executive Order, which was announced by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on January 4th, could not have been more explicit in its condemnation of the behaviour of holders of the so-called Private Use Permits, notably Hamed Sepawi’s Atlantic Resources.  She has announced an immediate moratorium on their activities:

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia

“the report issued by the Special Independent Investigating Body has revealed that there have been massive fraud, misrepresentations, abuses and violations of the National Forestry Reform Law in the issuance of Private Use Permits to the extent that this inter-generational asset has been severely threatened….because the mismanagement of the PUPs poses a threat to the efficient, effective, and sustainable management of our forests, it is imperative to impose a moratorium to protect the national interest” [Executive Order, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 4/1/2013]

Private Use Permits (PUPs) are supposed to be highly restricted licences covering small areas of land (less than a 1,000 hectares) to allow for the native owners of these areas to log trees for their own use.
Massive fraud, misrepresentations, abuses and violations
It was following a report by a whistleblower last year, than a government appointed investigation discovered massive and widespread abuse of these permits, mainly by the Sarawak companies linked to Sepawi and Samling. The report finds:

“That between November 25, 2009 and December 19, 2011, the FDA [Forest Development Authority] issued more than 51 PUPs that cover a total of 2,031,702.27 hectares plus of forestland; That of the more than 5 PUPs that have been issued 40 PUPs with a total forest cover of 1,811,259.8 hectares were issued in 2011 alone”.

The report goes on to say that by far the largest ‘executor’ in charge of this “alarming” rise in PUPs is Atlantic Resources Ltd:

“of the 10 executors, Atlantic Resources holds eighteen 18 of the assigned PUPs that have a combined hectare of 835,040″

On top of this, research shows that Atlantic Resources Ltd holds a further 130,00 hectares of forest land in Liberia under separate Forest Management Contracts.  Documents reveal that the Sarawak-owned company had approached villagers to sign secret contracts handing over their rights to these private permits, often for minimal cash.

Familiar tactic? Liberian rural people were encouraged to sign complicated legal documents that permit the clearance of their lands for just $10,000 a year

The contracts claim the company’s right to clear a total of nearly a million hectares and convert them to oil palm or other such crops.  It is this that the Liberian President clearly believes amounts to fraud, misrepresentation, abuse and violations of Liberia’s careful forest legislation and there are clear concerns that officials have been corrupted into permitting this land snatch, since major investigations are now underway.
Meanwhile, the government has discovered that Sepawi’s company has already exported a whopping 16,764,381 cubic meters of logs through the port of Greenville and the Liberians are equally annoyed that these Malaysian companies have also failed to pay the proper taxes before executing their permits. These debts to the government are believed to run into millions of dollars:

“Some logging companies, for example Atlantic Resources Ltd., that are owing forestry taxes and who has not fully met the requirements for harvesting from their existing FMC concessions are already harvesting timber from PUPs”

The President’s decree for a moratorium on PUPs has been welcomed by NGOs like Global Witness, who worked to publicise the issue.

“Atlantic Resources, a logging company linked to notorious Malaysian giant Samling, now controls 8 percent of Liberia’s land area through Private Use Permits despite owing millions in back taxes. Giving your forests to companies like that is not a sustainable investment.”[Global Witness statement Sept 2012]

The NGO has also applauded the threat to confiscate logs taken under these permits to pay for outstanding taxes and the threat to prosecute any companies or individuals found to have violated the law following the establishment of a Special Prosecution Team within the Ministry of Justice related to Private Use Permits.

PDT is a 60% shareholder of Atlantic Resources Ltd. Taib’s cousin Hamed Sepawi is the named major shareholder of the company along with a known nominee of Taib’s uncle and predecessor Tun Ya’kub (Wan Morshidi Tuanku Abdul Rahm). PDT also has a 5% shareholding also of Samling Global, worth an estimated USD$100 million.

Onlookers in Sarawak might wish that similar strict action had been taken by the Sarawak government against violations by companies like Ta Ann, Grand Perfect, Sarawak Plantation and Samling, which are mainly owned and run by the Yaws and Hamed Sepawi.  However, the Chief Minister has instead chosen to turn a blind eye to illegal logging, gangsters and intimidation of local people throughout such concessions.
Hand in glove – the relationship between Taib’s cousin Hamed and Samling extends to Africa
The revelations about Hamed Sepawi’s landgrabs in Liberia have also proved even further the long suspected business links between the Chief Minister’s known nominee and the Yaw family firm, Samling.  PDT is not only the key shareholder of Atlantic Resources, it also has a massive USD$100million stake in Samling Global itself.

5% of Samling’s business is owned by Hamed’s company. Another 5% owner is Taib’s Bomoh (witchdoctor) Ahmed Su’ut!

Liberian government investigations into Atlantic Resources have shown that its entire operation is being financed by a US$60million dollar investment by Samling.  The same research shows that until recently at least Yaw family member Yaw Chee Ming was a Director of PDT.
Yaw Chee Ming is also the Director of the two other major companies which have been bidding for further logging concessions in Liberia, Southeast Resources and Alpha Logging. Both these ventures are equally being backed by $60million investments by Samling (which has just been taken back into private ownership by the Yaw family at considerable loss to public shareholders).
This means that Hamed Sepawi is a key shareholder in Samling through PDT and Samling is a key investor in PDT’s own ventures.  Indeed investigators have pointed out that PDT and Samling Strategic Corporation are given the same address in one Malaysian online directory:

Based at Samling’s HQ – Hamed’s business ventures in Africa are being financed by the Yaw family’s Samling.

The issue raises even more questions about the huge numbers of logging permits that have been handed by Taib to the Yaw family without any form of public scrutiny over the past 30 years in Sarawak. These ventures in Africa show that the two families, that of the Yaw tycoons and the Mahmuds, are even more heavily intertwined than realised before.
Indeed Taib’s relations with Sarawak’s other logging tycoons show his personal link and involvement extends into the destruction of a vast landmass, not just in the Borneo Jungle but all over the world.  According to the NGO Global Witness:

“Sarawak firms…are currently logging or converting forests to plantations in a dozen countries around the world, covering an area of 18 million ha of concessions – roughly three times the landmass of Norway”[Global Witness Report into HSBC's financing of Sarawak Logging Companies]

Time the international community woke up to Taib, The Godfather Of Timber Corruption!
The new evidence about Taib’s family reach into corrupted logging in Africa is likely to further strengthen the determination of protestors in Tasmania, who face court appearances this Friday over a non-violent protest at a Ta Ann mill.
Ta Ann Tasmania, which is also owed by Hamed Sepawi, has been controversially extracting wood from wild forest areas that had originally been set aside for protected forest.  The dispute has held up a major Forest Agreement between Tasmania and the Federal Government, which could have brought hundreds of millions of dollars of compensation to the State.
Concerns about the corrupt practices of yet another Sepawi company, not just at home in Sarawak but also in Africa, will add to questions by the Green Party about the decisions that were made to bring the Malaysian company into Tasmania and to support the venture with several million dollars of taxpayer subsidies.
http://www.sarawakreport.org/2013/01/taib-family-logging-company-kicked-out-of-liberia/

Future Music Festival Asia 2013

Future Music Festival Asia which recently announced its first wave line-up of epic proportions for next year’s massive festival are expecting an estimated 40,000 fans to converge over the two-days.

On 15 March 2013, fans of trance music and Armin Van Buuren will have plenty to look forward to as Future Music Festival Asia 2013 presents ‘A State of Trance 600: The Expedition World Tour’. The event on Day 1 will be dedicated solely to celebrate Armin’s legendary 600^th‘A State of Trance’ (ASOT600) show. This stage will also see a host of other top acts handpicked by Armin van Buuren himself share the stage. The acts that will feature alongside Armin will be announced by the world’s number one DJ himself on December 6.

Held for the first time in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, Armin Van Buuren’s ASOT600 is only one of 6 events that has been announced to take place globally next year. Significantly, ASOT600 in Kuala Lumpur will celebrate Armin’s 600^th radio show episode – one of the most popular radio mix shows on the planet – with an estimated 20 million people across 26 countries worldwide, set to tune in live to the event in Kuala Lumpur on March 15 next year.

Day 2 which will be held on 16 March 2013 will see one of the four Future Music Festival Asia 2013 stages feature the likes of PSY, Rita Ora, Fun., Bloc Party, Temper Trap, Rudimental, Stafford Brothers, Timmy Trumpet, and Tenzin.

On its other stage, (The Prodigy presenting their Warrior’s Dance Arena) will see the likes of Feed Me, Kill The Noise, Zeds Dead, and Borgore share the stage with one of the best live acts in the world, The Prodigy.

Line-up for the remaining two stages will be announced soon.

The epic Future Music Festival Asia which thrilled crowds of over 25,000 in March this year has been dubbed as the largest music festival to ever hit Southeast Asian shores. Malaysia is the only country to ever host Future Music Festival outside of Australia. Future Music Festival Asia 2013 is also the official opening event for the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix week and is organized by Future Entertainment Australia and Livescape Asia Sdn. Bhd. and is fully endorsed by Tourism Malaysia.

This year, the event attracted over 7,000 tourists from abroad with fans from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, India and Europe arriving in droves for the festival.

Ticket prices and artist line-ups for Armin Van Buuren’s ‘A State of Trance 600: The Expedition World Tour and Future Music Festival Asia 2013 on the 15 & 16 of March 2013 are as below: Ticket Prices Ticket Types 

Terms & Conditions:

• Ticket prices DO NOT include Ticketing Fees
• Once tickets are sold, no exchanges or cancellations will be entertained.
• 1 ticket admits 1 person only
• Strictly for 18 and above only
• Non-refundable
• The Promoter reserves the right to amend, revise, change and/or upgrade tickets holders at its discretion
• Please read and understand the Conditions of Sale before purchasing ticket

Which way will Johor voters go in GE13?

FOCUS The 13th general election offers a window of opportunity for change after 55 years of BN federal rule.
This has been created mainly due to communications technology, which allows information to be uploaded within seconds anywhere, any time, via the Internet.
A second factor is the awakening of the people to the massive looting by those who walk the corridors of power.
The third relates to Anwar Ibrahim, who has been able to forge a working coalition among PAS, DAP and PKR within Pakatan Rakyat.
In the northern states during the 12th general election in 2008, DAP flags flew in Malay kampung and PAS flags in Chinese new villages.
For the first time too, Malays voted for DAP and Chinese for PAS, leading to the Umno-led BN losing five states. But the political tsunami did not reach Johor.
Let us look at the scorecard for Johor to see where the votes went and why this is deemed a BN ‘fixed deposit state’; why PKR has considered Johor a frontline state since early 2010; and why Anwar has been a frequent visitor.
The column ‘PAS/DAP’ and ‘DAP/PAS’ in the table below indicates the percentage of votes obtained by PAS against DAP and vice-versa in the five parliamentary seats contested in 2008.

The first four parliamentary seats were contested by a Chinese in the DAP seats and by a Malay in the PAS seats.
A similar trend was seen in all four constituencies – a large number of Chinese who voted for a DAP candidate did not vote for a PAS candidate; and a large number of Malays who voted for PAS did not vote for DAP.
So, despite the fact that DAP contested predominantly Chinese seats, it could not win more than five seats due to a large number of Malays who voted for PAS and not DAP.
This was equally true for PAS – a large number of Chinese who voted for DAP did not vote for the Islamic party. This reveals why the political tsunami failed to reach Johor.
The fifth parliamentary seat was contested by a Malay candidate from DAP. A large number of voters who voted for a Malay from DAP did not vote for a Malay from PAS.
The question is: has this trend changed in February 2013? If it has, which way has it changed?
Will all the Chinese in Johor who will vote for DAP also vote for PAS? Will all the Malays in Johor who will vote for PAS also vote for DAP? Or they have not changed?
Would it be wise to believe that voters in Johor have changed and hence, just work on one race and then rely on the other party be it PAS or DAP to deliver the votes of the other races?
Or, would it simply be wiser to work on all races with top priority given to swing by Malays voters?
DAP and PKR
How did Johor voters vote in the 12th general election when faced with a Chinese candidate in both a parliamentary and state seat?
Two parliamentary seats were contested by PKR, while the DAP contested a state seat under these. The ‘PKR/DAP’ and ‘DAP/PKR’ columns in the table indicate the percentage of votes obtained by PKR against DAP and vice versa

It is noted that PKR’s Chinese candidate secured slightly more votes from all races in Tangkak and slightly fewer votes in Paloh, compared to DAP’s Chinese candidates.
Overall, if Chinese sentiments in the 12th general election is still applicable today, there is no basis to the DAP’s claim that it can secure higher (at least 5 percent or more) Chinese votes than a PKR Chinese candidate.
In general, more Chinese dumped BN, but not as many as in the northern states.
PAS and PKR
How did Johor voters vote in the 12th general election when faced with a Malay candidate in both a parliamentary and a state seat?
PKR contested three parliamentary seats, while Pas contested a state seat under these. The ‘PKR/PAS’ and ‘PAS/PKR’ columns in the table indicate the percentage of votes obtained by PKR against PAS and vice versa.







































In general, the Chinese prefer a Malay candidate from PKR. However, there were mixed results (as in Batu Pahat and Tanjung Piai) when it came to a situation of Malays voting for Malay candidates from PKR, PAS or DAP.
If the sentiment and behaviour of voters in the 12th general election continues, then DAP will not be able to help PAS secure more Chinese votes, while PAS cannot help DAP to get more Malay votes in Johor.
PAS will therefore have to work harder in the Chinese-majority areas and DAP will have to work harder in the Malay-dominated areas in Johor.
If the Johor Chinese prefer a Malay candidate from PKR, it is difficult to predict how Malays in Johor will choose. Hence, the political choice of Johor Malays will be critical to both BN and Pakatan Rakyat in the 13th general election.
These facts have stimulated PKR to take Anwar frequently into the Malay heartland since the middle of 2010. Johor PKR chief and PKR vice-president Chua Jui Meng was appointed to assist him to make inroads.
Although the police did not give Anwar a chance to speak in the initial period in Bukit Batu, Kulai and Rengit, Batu Pahat, his persistence bore fruit later.
Ceramahs featuring him began to draw larger and larger crowds after PKR threatened to take legal action against the local authorities and the police for abuse of power.
In this way, Chua and Anwar have chiselled away at BN’s fortress in Johor.
PKR wishes to seal the support of the Malays in Johor before the 13th general election by taking Anwar to Rengit. Are Malays in Johor ready for him?

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STEVEN CHOONG SHIAU YOON is the Johor PKR election director.
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